Mettrick

After a 1-5-1 start against opponents like Virginia, William and Mary and Georgetown, Mount St. Mary's men's soccer coach Mark Mettrick could have panicked with five freshmen in his starting lineup. And he almost did."I didn't know if that would work in our favor or against us," Mettrick said, looking back to the stretch that preceded a 10-game unbeaten streak. "I'm not going to claim responsibility, this is just what's happened."Apparently, the hard knocks toughened the Mount (10-5-2) for Northeast Conference play, which it has dominated, although its nine-game winning streak ended Wednesday with a 0-0 tie against St. Francis (Pa.)

TULSA, Okla. -- Billy Ronson scored the game-winner 4:48 into the fourth quarter to lead the Bays past the Knoxville Impact, 8-7, last night in a U.S. Interregional Soccer League playoff game.Ronson assisted Eric Reidlbauer for the tying goal 3:40 into the fourth quarter. Rob Elliott, Mark Mettrick and Reidlbauer each had two goals for the Bays.Knoxville led 4-1 in the first quarter, but Bays goalkeeper Dave Tenney shut out the Impact in the second and fourth quarters.Bays ....... 1 .. 2 .. 3 .. 2 .. -- .. 8Knoxville .. 4 .. 0 .. 3 .. 0 .. -- .. 7Goals: B--Reidlbauer 2, Elliott 2, Mettrick 2, Ronson, Koziol; K--Donnelly, Platillero, Kurtz, Lee, Miettinen, Walsh, Kelly.

Mark Mettrick did all he could to get the Baltimore Bays back on track last night against visiting Long Island. The numbers simply weren't on his side.While Mettrick provided most of the offense for the Bays wit four goals and one assist, the Rough Riders countered with goals from nine different players to come away with a 12-8 win at Du Burns Arena in Canton.It's the first time in the two-year indoor history of the Bays (11-4) that they have lost two games in a row. Last Friday, they dropped a 15-9 decision to the Connecticut Wolves.

Opponent: Reading FreedomSite: Du Burns ArenaTime: 8:05Outlook: The Bays return home after winning back-to-back games last weekend in Florida. Baltimore, which is 7-2, first in the U.S. Interregional Soccer League's North-South Division, defeated Reading, 14-5, in its home opener in November and has a five-game winning streak. Steve Quaranta had a hat trick, and Eric Riedlbauer and Scott Krosnowski each had two goals the first time these two teams met. Riedlbauer ranks third on the Bays in scoring with 10 goals and four assists, behind Mark Mettrick (10 goals, 7 assists)

No one has to tell Mark Mettrick how priorities can change.As a single parent and first-year coach of a Division I soccer program, Mettrick has had to shift his primary focus from scoring goals to striving to reach long-term ones.When Mettrick declined the Spirit's offer to play for the club during this National Professional Soccer League season, it wasn't because there was any love lost for the game. The former Blast standout still craves the competition; he just didn't want it to imperil his newest passion -- coaching.

Opponent: Hampton Roads HurricanesSite: Du Burns ArenaTime: 8:05Outlook: The Bays (8-2) are coming off a 12-5 win last week against Reading. The Bays are led by Mark Mettrick (11 goals, nine assists) and Billy Ronson (eight goals, 19 assists). This will be the last Bays home game until Feb. 3, when they host the Connecticut Wolves.

If last night's U.S. Interregional Soccer League game at Du Burns Arena had been a boxing match, it would have been stopped.Scoring at will in the second half, the Baltimore Bays turned a win into a blowout. The Bays scored 10 goals in the fourth quarter on their way to a 21-3 victory over the Washington Mustangs.The win improved the Bays' record to 9-2 and brought their winning streak to seven games.Billy Ronson led the way with three goals and eight assists, and Mark Mettrick and Joe Layfield chipped in with four goals apiece.

The Baltimore Bays learned last night the problems of living on the edge.Paul Young redirected a shot by Mike Anhenuser from the right wing into the goal at 6:17 into overtime as the Charleston Battery defeated the Baltimore Bays, 1-0, at UMBC Stadium.The Bays (2-5) have now played three overtime games, winning their first two, including a victory over Washington last Saturday."We've been playing good defense the past few games, but we can't afford to play all these overtime games," said Bays goalie Scoop Stanisic, who made nine saves to offset the stagnant offense.

When you're hot, you're hot.That was the story last night for the unbeaten Baltimore Bays.Not only did the Bays survive one of their toughest tests of the season for a 10-5 victory over the Connecticut Wolves at Du Burns Arena, they also apparently won a game by forfeit off the field against the Richmond Kickers.That forfeit clinches the U.S. Interregional Soccer League Northern Division title for Baltimore (11-0 with the forfeit).The Kickers told the Bays yesterday that they could not play Baltimore tomorrow night in Richmond because of an outbreak of flu on the team.

Opponent: Richmond KickersSite: Du Burns ArenaTime: 8:05Outlook: Baltimore (2-2) is looking to bounce back after being upset, 7-6, on Saturday by the visiting Orlando Lions. The Bays fell to second place in the USISL's North-South Division with the loss, after breaking the Atlanta Magic's 39-game win streak a week earlier. Defender Mark Mettrick continues to lead the Bays offensively. Mettrick, who had one goal and an assist last week, leads the league in assists with five and is tied for second in total points with 13, including four goals.

For six British members of the Loyola College men's soccer team, tonight's World Football Challenge at M&T Bank Stadium is a delicious slice of home. "For a lot of us British guys here, we haven't seen a top-quality game live like this in a long time," Tennant McVea, an All-America defender from Belfast, Northern Ireland, said this week. "It's great for me personally, because I miss football back home, I miss getting that atmosphere." The atmosphere will be decidedly international when Chelsea FC and AC Milan, two of the most famous soccer teams in the world, represent Britain and Italy in a unique exhibition match.

If there were such a thing as a quarterback in soccer, Niall Lepper would be taking the snaps at Loyola College. From the sweeper position, Lepper calls the signals, instructs his young teammates where to move and frequently makes long-range passes that turn into scores. He is the backbone of an 11-4-3 Greyhounds team that enters the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament at Rider tomorrow as the top seed and favorite for a return trip to the NCAA tournament, where it reached the round of 16 last season, defeating Maryland along the way. "He really deserves to be an All-American," said Loyola coach Mark Mettrick.

Loyola junior goalkeeper Reb Beatty admits he becomes a different person when he steps onto the soccer field. "Off the field, a lot of people are surprised by my demeanor, because I can be very reserved," Beatty said. "But, on the field, I have always been the same way: very loud, very vocal and very into the game." Mark Mettrick, the second-year coach of the Greyhounds, has a different take on it. "In terms of personality, some of our guys think he is a little mad at times, but that's OK," Mettrick said.

Niall Lepper was back home in Scotland during last Christmas break when he heard the news. Mark Mettrick, the Mount St. Mary's coach who had recruited Lepper to play collegiate soccer in the United States, was leaving Emmitsburg after Lepper's freshman season to become the new soccer coach at Loyola College. "He was the main reason I came to the states in the first place, because he took care of the British boys," said Lepper, a Glasgow native. "The next three years of college life, I thought I would be with Coach Mettrick and Mount St. Mary's, and for that to suddenly end, it was a bombshell.

In about 2.2 seconds, Loyola could have found its replacement for Bill Sento as its men's soccer coach. Mark Mettrick was local, mobile and talented -- a coach who was 45 minutes away at Mount St. Mary's, ready and eager to move on to a bigger program and good enough that his teams put scares into nationally ranked teams this season. But 2.2 seconds turned into two months before Father Harold Ridley, Loyola's president, and Joseph Boylan, the athletic director, finally announced Mettrick's hiring on Tuesday.

After a 1-5-1 start against opponents like Virginia, William and Mary and Georgetown, Mount St. Mary's men's soccer coach Mark Mettrick could have panicked with five freshmen in his starting lineup. And he almost did."I didn't know if that would work in our favor or against us," Mettrick said, looking back to the stretch that preceded a 10-game unbeaten streak. "I'm not going to claim responsibility, this is just what's happened."Apparently, the hard knocks toughened the Mount (10-5-2) for Northeast Conference play, which it has dominated, although its nine-game winning streak ended Wednesday with a 0-0 tie against St. Francis (Pa.)

TULSA, Okla. -- Billy Ronson scored the game-winner 4:48 into the fourth quarter to lead the Bays past the Knoxville Impact, 8-7, last night in a U.S. Interregional Soccer League playoff game.Ronson assisted Eric Reidlbauer for the tying goal 3:40 into the fourth quarter. Rob Elliott, Mark Mettrick and Reidlbauer each had two goals for the Bays.Knoxville led 4-1 in the first quarter, but Bays goalkeeper Dave Tenney shut out the Impact in the second and fourth quarters.Bays ....... 1 .. 2 .. 3 .. 2 .. -- .. 8Knoxville .. 4 .. 0 .. 3 .. 0 .. -- .. 7Goals: B--Reidlbauer 2, Elliott 2, Mettrick 2, Ronson, Koziol; K--Donnelly, Platillero, Kurtz, Lee, Miettinen, Walsh, Kelly.

Mark Mettrick did all he could to get the Baltimore Bays back on track last night against visiting Long Island. The numbers simply weren't on his side.While Mettrick provided most of the offense for the Bays wit four goals and one assist, the Rough Riders countered with goals from nine different players to come away with a 12-8 win at Du Burns Arena in Canton.It's the first time in the two-year indoor history of the Bays (11-4) that they have lost two games in a row. Last Friday, they dropped a 15-9 decision to the Connecticut Wolves.

If last night's U.S. Interregional Soccer League game at Du Burns Arena had been a boxing match, it would have been stopped.Scoring at will in the second half, the Baltimore Bays turned a win into a blowout. The Bays scored 10 goals in the fourth quarter on their way to a 21-3 victory over the Washington Mustangs.The win improved the Bays' record to 9-2 and brought their winning streak to seven games.Billy Ronson led the way with three goals and eight assists, and Mark Mettrick and Joe Layfield chipped in with four goals apiece.

Opponent: Hampton Roads HurricanesSite: Du Burns ArenaTime: 8:05Outlook: The Bays (8-2) are coming off a 12-5 win last week against Reading. The Bays are led by Mark Mettrick (11 goals, nine assists) and Billy Ronson (eight goals, 19 assists). This will be the last Bays home game until Feb. 3, when they host the Connecticut Wolves.