Matt Vierheller is back in the net. Mount St. Mary's coach Tom Gravante said Wednesday that the freshman goalkeeper will start in Friday's home game against No. 17 Towson.
Vierheller made 11 saves in the team's 11-8 victory at VMI on Feb. 14, but was benched in favor of Frankie McCarthy for the next game against Delaware. Gravante said the coaches wanted to see what McCarthy, a junior who recorded a 10.29 goals-against average and a .520 save percentage in nine games (including four starts) last season, could do.
McCarthy made four saves, but the Mountaineers fell, 11-10, to the Blue Hens (2-2) on Tuesday, and Gravante announced the goalie change 24 hours later.
"I think we're probably going to go back to Matt," Gravante said. "We needed to give Frankie an opportunity to start and see how he handled it. I think [associate head coach and defensive coordinator Tim] McIntee is going to go back to Matt and give him the start."
Gravante cautioned against reading too much into McCarthy's final numbers against Delaware.
"I don't think he had his best game," Gravante said. "But at halftime, we were still in a position to win. Frankie would tell you that he didn't play his best game, but he made some saves in the second half, which were great. He was perfect on clears. That starts with the goalie. We really needed as an offense to support him."
Even if Vierheller plays well against the Tigers, Gravante said McCarthy could start against Georgetown on Wednesday.
"It's the early season against out-of-conference teams," Gravante said. "Not that they're not important, but we're in a position with these two young men who are good goalies to build some depth, and the best goalie will prevail. It's just how it's going to work. I'm going to stand behind Coach McIntee because we're going to need this down the line as we get further into the season and into those conference games. We're going to need to know who we are, especially in that cage, and whoever that backup is, he has to know his role and be ready to play."
On a related note, Friday's game against Towson has been moved up to 2 p.m. It was originally scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.