Mike Celmer is no longer suffering from post-concussion symptoms, but the Mount St. Mary's senior faceoff specialist is unlikely to be available for Wednesday's home game against Richmond (3-2).
Celmer, who had won 61.7 percent (58 of 94) of faceoffs he took last season but had won just 36.7 percent (11 of 30) in three games, sat out an 11-5 loss to Georgetown on Wednesday and a 7-6 win at Furman on Saturday. But he is making progress, according to coach Tom Gravante.
"He's without symptoms now," Gravante said. "So he goes onto the next progression of tests. He's a maybe. I have to talk with the trainer. We might see him at practice, but he's got to be able to run and sweat and increase his heart rate without getting dizzy."
Without Celmer, senior Nick Haley has taken the majority of the draws, winning 44.4 percent (16 of 36) and picking up five ground balls. The Archbishop Spalding graduate has yet to win 50 percent in a game, but Gravante pointed out that Haley won 3 of 4 faceoffs that aided the Mountaineers (2-3) in outscoring the Paladins, 2-1, in the fourth quarter of Saturday's victory.
"He's battling," Gravante said. "I know the stats don't show that, but when it was time to win the right faceoffs, he did to keep the momentum. … I know that the stats show that Furman got the better of us there, but he got the faceoffs that he needed to win and that gave us time of possession in the most crucial times of the game to help us score goals or burn time off the clock."