Mount Clinches Spot in MAAC Tournament
from press release
EMMITSBURG, Md. -- Cody Lehrer scored three
goals and added three assists to lead Mount St. Mary's to a 17-7
win over VMI on Wednesday afternoon. With the win, the Mount
clinches a spot in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Tournament.
Lehrer has recorded a hat trick in each of the past three games and
now has 44 goals on the season, tied for the fifth-best
single-season mark in Mount history. It is the most goals by
a Mount player since Matt Warner scored a school-record 52 in
2005. Lehrer has tallied three or more goals in nine of the
Mount's 13 games this season.
Freshman Andrew Scalley added three goals and an assist while Brett
Schmidt, Jake Willertz, Mark Stapor and Doug Friedman added two
goals each in the win.
Also scoring for the Mount were Bryant Schmidt, Mark Burns and
Daniel Stranix. Drew Dunn chipped in a pair of assists in the
game for the Mountaineers (9-4, 6-1 MAAC).
Goalkeeper T.C. DiBartolo made six saves while allowing three goals
in 38:35 of action. A.J. Schaufler allowed one goal in 9:20
of action with one save while Allen Frere made five saves while
allowing three goals over the final 12:05 on the game.
Ben Trapp won 11-of-17 face-offs for the Mount while collecting
four ground balls.
Tim Moran scored twice for VMI (2-12, 0-7 MAAC) while Brett Leonard
added a goal and an assist in the loss.
The Mount struck quickly in the game, scoring twice in the opening
two minutes to take the early lead. Willertz opened the
scoring 1:15 into the game while Scalley made it 2-0 44 seconds
later.
After Moran snapped home a goal with 8:24 left in the first
quarter, Bryant Schmidt and Lehrer found the back of the cage to
give the Mount a 4-1 lead.
Scalley's second goal of the day made it 5-1 before VMI's Colin
Bosse stopped the streak with 9:49 left in the half. Brett
Schmidt converted a Scalley pass less than a minute later to give
the Mount a 6-2 lead, but Moran answered to cut the Mount lead to
6-3 with 7:43 left in the quarter.
The Mount then rattled off the final four goals of the first half
to take a commanding 10-3 lead. Mark Stapor scored the first
of his two goals on the day to start the streak before the Mount
scored three-straight extra-man goals. Scalley, Lehrer and
Willertz all scored man-up goals, the final one by Willertz with
nine seconds left in the half, for the seven-goal lead.
Brett Schmidt opened the scoring in the second half ahead of the
Stranix goal with 7:09 left in the third. It was the first
collegiate goal for the freshman. VMI's Jacob Weimer cut the
Mount advantage to 12-4, but Burns, Stapor, Lehrer and Friedman all
scored in the final 4:42 of the third quarter for a 16-4 lead.
The Mount held a 42-26 advantage in shots in the game and a 36-27
margin in ground balls.
Mount St. Mary's has now clinched at least the No.3 seed in the
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament which will be held at
Marist College on May 7 and 9. The Mount is currently 6-1 in
conference play, trailing first-place Siena, who is 7-0.
The Mount closes out the regular season at Marist with a 7:00 p.m.
game on Saturday, May 1.
