The bad: Mount St. Mary’s isn’t shy about scheduling early-season contests against tough non-conference opponents like Virginia, Maryland, Navy and Bucknell, but that has yet to yield victories. Gravante vowed to make changes, some of which will center on getting the team to embark on a faster start. “I think we’re going to make some changes early on next year and learn from our mistakes so that our kids are hopefully better equipped to play early on,” he said. “For that Towson game, I don’t think we were ready yet. So I think we need to make a change in our practice plans to get them more organized so that they’re ready.” … The Mountaineers’ prowess on offense disguised some problems in transition. After clearing the ball 78.9 percent (255-of-323) of the time last year, the team went just 76.6 percent (190-of-248) this past spring. Gravante said the transition game needs some re-tooling. “I think we could’ve cleared the ball better,” he said. “I think we cleaned that up at the end of the season, but we had some issues at the beginning of the season that really hurt us. Teams could cut the field in half and get transition to the cage, and that really pops your balloon.”

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Personnel changes: The deepest impact of graduation is felt on defense, especially in the cage where goalie T.C. DiBartolo leaves after four years as the undisputed starter. DiBartolo, a Bowie native and Archbishop Spalding graduate, will stay on staff as a graduate assistant where he will aid freshman Chris Klaiber. “We believe in Chris Klaiber,” Gravante said. “We’ve got a couple of promising young men coming in, but I think Chris has the work ethic that T.C. had, and he’s confident that Chris will be able to do the job for us.” … That side of the field also bids farewell to starting defensemen Justin Schmidt and Andrew Miller. Junior Brendan Rooney is poised to join sophomore Kevin Downs as two of the three starters, but there will be an open competition for the third spot. “We have some depth in some youngsters, and we’ve got some good freshmen that are coming in,” Gravante said. “Again, these kids are going to be asked to sink or swim, and I think they’re going to get on board quickly in the fall and realize, ‘Hey, I’ve got a great opportunity here.’ So either they handle the pressure or they don’t. Some may and some may not.” … Ben Trapp wasn’t a starter, but he was gifted at facing off, winning 58.2 percent (210-of-361) of his draws. Sophomore Jonathan Marsalese is the frontrunner to succeed Trapp, but Gravante said there’s nothing set in stone at this point. “We’ll see,” he said. “They’re going to have sink or swim quick. And if I was in their shoes, I would like that. These kids are all going to be young, but there’s not much time to turn and look over their shoulders. It’s got to be done on their parts. … But we do have a young man in Jonathan Marsalese, who will be the returning big dog on the block, and it’s up to these youngsters if they can match up with him.”

Forecast for 2011: Partly cloudy. Mount St. Mary’s returns a wealth of options on offense, which is potent enough to carry the team again next year. But the losses on defense are substantial. DiBartolo was a rock for that unit, and Schmidt and Miller aided DiBartolo. The Mountaineers overtook Robert Morris and Bryant as the preseason 1-2 to capture the Northeast Conferece, but those rivals will take aim at Mount St. Mary’s. There’s nothing the team can do about the absence of the automatic qualifier in the conference next season. So unless the team scores some victories over non-conference foes, upcoming seniors like attackmen Brett Schmidt and Cody Lehrer and midfielders Bryant Schmidt and Eric Ososki are in danger of finishing their careers with just one NCAA tournament appearance. Is the motivation still there to be successful?