New conference honors Mount St. Mary's
Next season, Mount St. Mary's will move from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference to the Northeast Conference, joining Bryant, Quinnipiac, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart and Wagner. On Friday, the Northeast Conference handed out its inaugural set of postseason awards, and the Mountaineers were well represented.
Freshman attackman Andrew Scalley was named the Rookie of the Year, and Tom Gravante was honored as the Coach of the Year. In addition, four players made the All-NEC first team, while two more made the second team.
In his 15th season, Gravante was the architect behind Mount St. Mary's school-record 12 wins and the program's first MAAC Tournament championship since 2003. That title also earned the Mountaineers their first berth in the NCAA Tournament since 2003. Gravante has compiled a career coaching record of 107-130.
Scalley, an Arnold native and Archbishop Spalding graduate, finished his rookie campaign with 32 goals and 17 assists. Scalley, who scored three goals in the team's 18-5 loss to No. 1 seed Virginia in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, scored 24 goals over his last nine contests.
Cody Lehrer, one of four players to make the All-NEC first team, registered 48 goals and 9 assists. The 48 goals were the second-most in a single season in school history. The sophomore attackman scored three or more goals in nine games.
Bryant Schmidt posted 21 goals and 16 assists. The sophomore midfielder scored in each of the team's last six contests.
Russell Moncure led Mount St. Mary's in caused turnovers with 14. The senior defenseman also collected 27 groundballs.
T.C. DiBartolo recorded a 9.39 goals-against average and a .590 save percentage with the latter ranking fifth among all Division I goalkeepers. The junior from Bowie who graduated from Archbishop Spalding stopped 33 shots in two games to help the team capture the MAAC Tournament crown.
Senior defenseman Matt Nealis and sophomore attackman Brett Schmidt were named to the All-NEC second team. Scalley and the Schmidt twins were selected to the conference's All-Rookie team.
