Matt Vierheller's sophomore year did not go quite as he or Mount St. Mary's had planned.
After a freshman campaign in which the goalkeeper recorded an 8.36 goals-against average and a .567 save percentage en route to being named to the Northeast Conference All-Rookie Team, Vierheller's numbers dropped this past spring.
Vierheller posted a 10.50 goals-against average and a .430 save percentage in 11 games including nine starts. After starting in seven of the Mountaineers' first eight games, he made just two starts in the team's last six contests, giving way to senior Frankie McCarthy (9.73 GAA, .472 save percentage).
Coach Tom Gravante said he and Vierheller had an honest conversation in late April about the goalie's struggles.
"Matt and I had a heart-to-heart talk after he gave up the starting job to Frankie versus Wagner, and we found some solutions," Gravante said. "I helped him understand what the approach was in the beginning of the season and what happened midseason and that maybe this is the reason why it led to failure. He wasn't seeing the ball as well as he needed to. This is something he will need to work on over the summer and fall and certainly all of next season."
Gravante said the mercurial nature of the goaltending position requires a certain amount of mental fortitude.
"That's a very unique position," he said. "You have to have a head about yourself, and if you lose that mental mojo, you're going to go from good to bad quickly as it did for us. We certainly didn't help him on the other end of the field with our shot percentage. You can help your goalie by scoring some goals and bringing him back, and I've seen that through my career."
The graduation of McCarthy and classmate Will Rego (St. Paul's) leaves Vierheller and freshman Rutger Colt as the only goalkeepers on the roster. Mount St. Mary's is projected to welcome two goalies in the next incoming class of recruits, but Gravante said Colt is the current incumbent to back up Vierheller in the cage next season.
"Rutger has done a nice job in there," Gravante said. "In special situations, he's our backup. He really gave [fifth-year senior attackman and leading scorer] Mark Hojnoski fits. Mark could score on anybody but Rutger. But the other situation was that Rutger was playing pressure-free. There was no pressure to perform because there he wasn't going in a game. He was the third guy behind Frankie and Matt. But he's shown some good ability, and we'll see where that goes."