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The Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers are the 43rd team in our 2017 schedule preview. The Mountaineers went 6-8 overall in 2016, and 2-4 in NEC play. The Mount failed to make the NEC Tournament last season. Let’s dive into their schedule.
MOUNT ST. MARY’S
The Mountaineers begin the season with their first four games and five of their first six games at home. It begins with a pair of CAA opponents in Delaware on February 11 and defending CAA champion Towson on the 18th. Up next are a trio of SoCon teams, with Richmond on February 21 and Furman on February 26 at home.
The Mount’s first road game is against Bellarmine on March 11. The NEC opener is at home against Bryant on March 18, followed by a trip to Moon Township, Pennsylvania on March 25 to take on Robert Morris. The Mountaineers end the month on March 28 in Virginia against VMI.
The month of April kicks off against Sacred Heart on the first day of the month in Emmitsburg. The Mountaineers then host Patriot League opponent Bucknell on April 8. NEC conference play resumes on April 15 in Riverdale, New York against Wagner. Nonconference play wraps up four days later at home against Georgetown. The Mount has to take on last year’s NEC championship game finalists in their final two games of the season. The squad will travel to Geneva to take on defending NEC champion Hobart on April 22. The regular season finale is at home against NEC finalist St. Joe’s on April 29.
The Mountaineers hope to get back to the NEC Tournament after missing out in 2016, but also finish above .500 for the first time in six seasons. Leading scorer Mark Hojnoski is gone, but the team still has Chris DiPretoro and Bubba Johnson as key contributors on offense. Also look out for Ryan Lamon, Jack Managan, Spencer Smith, and Mike Moynihan to contribute as well. On defense, Managan is one of their top defensive midfielders, along with La Salle College High School product Mike Pascali. Daniel Barber, Kevin Verkler, Brian Philbin, and Robert Beckwith return to anchor the defense. In goal, Matt Vierheller returns and should take the full reigns, while sophomores Ardash Nodznaia and possibly even Managan will have to take over for Mike Celmer for face-offs.
To see every team’s schedule and which one’s we’ve highlighted, check our our master schedule list.