REVIEW

The good: The Mountaineers were anchored by a strong defense, and the leader of that unit was sophomore goalkeeper T.C. DiBartolo. The Bowie native and Archbishop Spalding product ranked sixth in the country with a .609 save percentage and 10^th with a 7.81 goals-against average. A first-team All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference selection, DiBartolo was joined by Matt Nealis on the first team. The junior defenseman was tied for the team lead in caused turnovers with 14. "The strength was our goaltending and our defense," coach Tom Gravante said. … Picked in the preseason to finish eighth in the conference, Mount St. Mary’s compiled a 5-3 record to capture the No. 2 seed in the MAAC tournament. Although the Mountaineers dropped a 5-3 decision to Manhattan in a tournament semifinal, Gravante was delighted with his team’s development. "We just wanted to get to the fourth spot," he said. "This young team learned how to deal with pressure."

The bad: As Gravante had accurately predicted in the preseason, a youthful offense struggled at times to find its groove and put the ball in the net. Mount St. Mary’s averaged less than 6 goals a game, and the team scored less than six goals in seven of 15 contests. Freshmen attackmen Cody Lehrer and Christian Kellett scored 15 and 13 goals, respectively, but after them, no other player scored more than eight times. "It’s not like we had upperclassmen returning who had both the experience that we needed or the points to go with it," Gravante said. "But we knew that going into the season." … Face-offs continue to be a concern. The face-off unit won just 43.1 percent this season, a decline from last year’s 44.2 winning percentage.

PREVIEW

Personnel changes: The Mountaineers return their six top point producers and two-thirds of their close defense. The entire starting attack of Kellett (13 goals and 14 assists), Lehrer (15, 9) and sophomore Mark Stapor (7, 4) is back as is fourth attackman Jonny Lefferts (4, 2). Geery Grant graduates from the midfield, but freshman Eric Ososki (4, 5) and junior Jim O’Shea (3, 3) provide some continuity. "The hope is that they don’t sit on this season," Gravante said. "They’ve got to want to grab a bigger piece of the pie." … On defense, Brendan Flanagan (a team-high 50 groundballs and 14 caused turnovers) will be sorely missed as the fifth-year senior graduates. But Nealis and starting junior Russell Moncure (25, 12) will patrol the area in front of DiBartolo, and sophomore Andrew Miller is the front-runner to fill the third defenseman vacancy. Sophomore Justin Schmidt could be the team’s first long-stick midfielder. … The defense could be even stronger with an incoming recruiting class that includes John Anderson of St. Mary’s and Keith Ziemba of Loyola. "We’re very happy with those prospects," Gravante said.

Outlook for 2010: Not bad. Mount St. Mary’s returns 88.8 percent of its goal scoring, and assuming that the players take Gravante’s instructions to heart, this team could challenge conference rivals like Siena and Canisius for the MAAC championship on an annual basis. "I think the foundation has been established," Gravante said. "It’s a re-loading process, and I’m very, very excited. But I hold my excitement because you’re relying on 18-, 20-, 22-year-old young men, and you’re hoping you get through to them, especially during summer when they really need to develop their games."