Mount St. Mary's and Wagner to Battle for Final NEC Tournament Spot on Saturday

00:00 -	1	2	3	4	T
Mount St. Mary's (5-8, 2-3 NEC)	7	2	3	4	16
Wagner (1-13, 1-4 NEC)	2	1	1	3	7

Mount St. Mary's	Wagner
G: 3 Players (#6, #9, #23 - 3)	G: 2 Players (#6, #8 - 2)
A: 2 Players (#9, #16 - 3)	A: 3 Players (#4, #6, #7 - 1)
Sv: Chris Klaiber - 6	Sv: GIBALDI, Nicholas - 11
GB: Jon Marsalese - 8	GB: GIBALDI, Nicholas - 3

Team Statistics	Mount St. Mary's	Wagner
Shots	50	24
Ground Balls	31	13
Saves	6	12
Clears	11-12	11-12
Turnovers	11	11
Face Offs Won	19	8
Man Up	0-2	0-1

full stats

MOUNT ST. MARY'S (4-8, 1-3 NEC) at WAGNER (1-12, 1-3 NEC)
Saturday, April 28, 2012, 12:00 p.m.
Wagner College Stadium, Staten Island, N.Y.

LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

MOUNT UPDATE:  The Mount lost to No. 7 Maryland, 12-8, Wednesday night before a record crowd of 1,278 at Waldron Family Stadium.  Twins Brett and Bryant Schmidt combined for three goals and four assists in the loss.  Maryland scored three times early in the first quarter to take a 3-0 lead, but the Mount countered with a three-goal run of its own to even the score.  Bryant Schmidt scored the first two goals of the run while Andrew Scalley added the third.  The Terrapins took control of the game by scoring three times in a span of 22 seconds late in the second quarter.  Maryland scored five times in the third to take an 11-5 lead, but the Mount fought back, cutting the deficit to 11-7 with three minutes left before falling 12-8.  Brett Schmidt had a goal and three assists while Bryant finished with two goals and one helper.  Scalley added a pair of goals while Daniel Stranix, Christian Kellett and Bryan Kane also scored in the loss.  The Mount was outshot, 29-28, in the game with goalkeeper Chris Klaiber making eight saves.

ABOUT THE SEAHAWKS:  Wagner lost to Bryant, 21-3, on Sunday to fall to 1-12 overall and 1-3 in the Northeast Conference.  Bryant held a 48-30 advantage in shots and had a 47-16 edge in ground balls.  Nick DePhillips, Cory Santor and Kendall Strahl scored for the Seahawks in the game.  DePhillips leads the team with 22 goals while Colin O'Rourke has 20 markers on the year.  The pair are tied for the team lead with 24 points each.  Mike Hurley has 11 goals and 10 assists for 21 points as well.  In goal, Nicholas Gibaldi has started all 13 games, posting 171 saves and a 15.61 goals against average.  He was the NEC Defensive Player of the Week after a 20-save performance in Wagner's 11-8 win over Sacred Heart. 

THE ALL-TIME SERIES:  The Mount holds a 12-0 lead in the all-time series that began in 2000.  Last year, the Mount recorded a 22-5 victory over Wagner on April 23 at Waldron Family Stadium.  The Mountaineers are 5-0 all-time at Wagner, including a 12-5 win in 2010.  The closest game in the series was a 9-6 Mount victory in 2007.

LAST MEETING:  The Mount rolled to a 22-5 win over Wagner last year to clinch the Northeast Conference regular season title.  Ben Trapp went 21-for-21 on face-offs in the game to tie the second-best single-game mark in NCAA history.  Brett Schmidt and Mike Adkins each scored four goals to pace the Mount offense, which had nine players record multiple-point game.  Click HERE for a full recap.

PLAYOFF PICTURE:  The Mount and Wagner are battling for the fourth and final spot in the Northeast Conference Tournament.  The winner of the game will earn the No. 4 seed and play the winner of Saturday's Robert Morris/Bryant game in the NEC semifinals on Friday, May 4.  The winner of the RMU-Bryant game will also be the host of this year's NEC Tournament.

THE MOUNT vs. RANKED OPPONENTS:  Mount St. Mary's is 3-47 all-time against ranked opponents since moving to NCAA Division I in 1988-89, including a 1-4 mark this year.  The Mount defeated No. 16 Delaware, 12-10, on Feb. 25 to open the season.  All three wins over ranked opponents have come since 2010 with the Mount defeating No. 10 Lafayette (14-12) and No. 19 Robert Morris (19-13) in 2010. 

SCALLEY PICKING UP ON OFFENSE:  Junior Andrew Scalley has picked up his offense of late, posting 14 goals and 12 assists over the past six games.  Scalley is averaging 4.50 points over that stretch and is now leads the team with 37 points (21g, 18a).  Earlier this season Scalley saw his streak of 37 consecutive games with at least one point snapped against Drexel on March 17.   He has recorded at least one point in 43 of 44 career games played and he is 13^th all-time at the Mount in career points (140) and goals (91).

BRYANT SCHMIDT LEADS THE WAY:  Midfielder Bryant Schmidt leads the Mount with 25 goals this season.  The senior has a team-best five hat tricks this season and leads twin brother Brett by two goals in the team goal scoring race.  He has scored 15 goals over the past five games, including a pair of goals in the 12-8 loss to No. 7 Maryland.

100-POINT SCORERS:  The Mount has three players with 100 career points in Andrew Scalley (140), Brett Schmidt (126) and Cody Lehrer (124).  It is the first time in school history that the Mount has had three players all with 100 or more career points.  Bryant Schmidt is not far from joining the trio as he has 95 career points for the Mountaineers.  On the all-time scoring list at the Mount, Scalley is now tied for 13^th, Lehrer 17^th and Brett Schmidt 18^th.

SCHMIDT'S GOAL SCORING STREAK CONTINUES:  Senior attack Brett Schmidt has scored at least one goal in each of his past 25 games, the third longest streak in the country.  Schmidt is second on the team in both goals (23) and points (38).  His 74 career goals are 16^th all-time at the Mount. 

HAT TRICKS:  The Mount had three different players record hat tricks in the 15-6 win at Michigan as Brett Schmidt, Bryant Schmidt and Christian Kellett each scored three times in the game.  The last time the Mount had three hat tricks in the same game was when the Schmidt twins and Andrew Scalley each had hat tricks in the Mount's 14-9 win over Quinnipiac in the NEC Championship game.

MORE HAT TRICKS:  Brett and Bryant Schmidt each had three goals in the Mount's win at Michigan, marking the third time in their career that the twins have recorded hat tricks in the same game.  The other two times came against VMI on March 10 this year and against Quinnipiac in the NEC Championship game on May 8 last year.

HAT TRICKS (PART 3):  The Mount has had 10 different players on the roster post a hat trick in their Mount career.  Cody Lehrer, who is redshirting this season, leads the list with 16 career hat tricks, followed by Andrew Scalley (15) and Brett Schmidt (10).  The rest of the list includes Byrant Schmidt (7), Jake Willertz (3), Christian Kellett (3), Mike Adkins (2), Eric Ososki (2), Anthony Golden (1) and Daniel Stranix (1).

QUICK STRIKES:  The Mount scored three goals in a span of 16 seconds in the victory over VMI on March 10.  After VMI scored to cut the lead to 9-3 with 13:22 left in the fourth quarter, Brett Schmidt scored just nine seconds later to give the Mount a 10-3 lead with 13:13 on the clock.  Robert Owen added to the lead nine seconds later (13:04) while Schmidt made it three goals in 16 seconds when he scored to give the Mount a 12-3 lead with 12:57 left in the fourth.

KELLETT FITS IN:  Senior Christian Kellett has tallied 12 goals and nine assists over the past nine games since being inserted into the starting lineup on attack.  Kellett has posted a pair of hat tricks this year and a six-point game (2g, 4a) against VMI.

WEEKLY HONORS:  Sophomore goalkeeper Chris Klaiber and freshman midfielder Braedon Graham each earned weekly honors from the Northeast Conference on Feb. 27.   Klaiber was named the Defensive Player of the Week after making 13 saves in the Mount's 12-10 win over No. 16 Delaware.  Graham's first collegiate goal in that game helped him earn NEC Rookie of the Week honors.

WEEKLY HONORS PART 2:  Andrew Scalley was named the Nortehast Conference Offensive Player of the Week on March 26 after posting a career-high seven points in the Mount's 15-6 win at Michigan on Saturday.  Scalley rebounded in strong fashion in his first game after being held off the scoresheet for the first time in his career.  The junior attack scored two goals and dished out five assists in his seven-point day to lead the Mount offense in the victory. Scalley has recorded at least one point in 38 of 39 career games played.

LOOKING FOR A THREE-PEAT:  The Mount has won conference championships in each of the past two seasons.  In 2010, the Mount defeated Siena, 7-6, in the championship game in the team's final season in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.  Last year, the Mount posted a 14-9 win over Quinnipiac in the inaugural season for the Northeast Conference.

SITTING OUT:  Three seniors are redshirting for the Mount this season.  Attack Cody Lehrer, midfielder Eric Ososki and long stick midfielder Mark Burns will each sit out the 2012 season.  Lehrer has 96 goals and 28 assists for 124 career points in 47 games at the Mount.  He had 33 goals and 10 assists last year, finishing third on the team with 43 points.  Ososki has tallied 28 goals and 17 assists for 45 points in 35 games at the Mount while Burns has six goals and three assists while picking up 69 ground balls in 37 career games.

PRESEASON POLL:  The Mount was selected as the Preseason favorite in the annual Northeast Conference Preseason Coaches poll.  The Mount received four of the six first-place votes in the poll and ranked ahead of Bryant, Robert Morris, Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart and Wagner. 

THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE:  The Northeast Conference begins its second season sponsoring men's lacrosse in 2012.  The six schools include the Mount, Bryant, Quinnipiac, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart and Wagner.  The league does not get an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament until 2013.  Monmouth announced it is adding men's lacrosse and will become the league's seventh member.

HEAD COACH TOM GRAVANTE:  Head coach Tom Gravante is beginning his 17^th season on the Mount sidelines.  Gravante has been named Northeast Conference Coach of the Year in each of the past two seasons.  He has guided the Mount to the NCAA Tournament in both 2003 and 2010 and he was named the MAAC Coach of the Year on four occasions.  Gravante tied former Mount coach Randy Kilgore for the school record for career wins with his 120^th career victory in the 9-8 win over Sacred Heart.

UP NEXT:  The Mount will advance to the Northeast Conference Tournament on Friday, May 4, with a win over Wagner on Saturday.  If the Mount loses, the season will be over.