TOWSON, Md. ? After falling behind by an 8-3 margin in the first half, the Tigers fought back to close the margin to one goal with less than a minute left in the CAA Championship Game against Villanova on Saturday night. However, the Tigers' comeback was one goal short as the Wildcats won their first CAA title with a 10-9 victory over the second-seeded Tigers at Unitas Stadium.
Freshman attackman C.J. Small scored three goals as the Wildcats became the first fourth seed to win the CAA title. The Wildcats, who have won three of their last four games, will make their first-ever appearance in the NCAA® Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship. The selections will be announced on Sunday evening at 9 p.m. on ESPNU.
“It was their first half and our second half,” Towson Coach Tony Seaman said. “We fought our way back in the second half, but it was not enough. We had our chances, but it just fell apart for us in the first half.
“We missed the cage a lot of times tonight and it was one of our problems earlier in the year,” Seaman added. “On Wednesday night, everything we shot seemed to find the goal, but tonight, we struggled with getting the ball on cage. Your shots have to be on the goal in order to win.”
The Wildcats took a 2-0 lead with 2:40 remaining in the first quarter after Small and junior attackman Mark Scioscia scored back-to-back goals. Senior midfielder Justin Schneider narrowed the deficit to 2-1 with 1:39 left when he scored an unassisted goal.
After the Wildcats upped their advantage to 3-1 in the first three minutes of the second quarter, junior midfielder Brock Armour cut the margin to 3-2 with 9:41 remaining with his eighth goal of the year, an unassisted marker past senior goalkeeper Andrew DiLoreto.
Following the Armour goal, the Wildcats were called for a three-minute unreleasable penalty for an illegal stick. The Tigers took advantage less than a minute later when senior midfielder Randall Cooper converted an Armour pass to tie the game at 3-3.
But, the Wildcats answered by scoring a pair of short-handed goals in a 16-second span to regain a two-goal advantage and ignite a five-goal run which upped the Villanova to 8-3 at the intermission. Sophomore midfielder T.J. O'Donnell scored two goals during the run while freshman midfielder Kevin Cunningham contributed a goal with two assists.
Early in the third quarter, the Tigers ended the Wildcats' run when sophomore attackman Tim Stratton scored an unassisted goal to cut the margin to 8-4. After Small scored to give Villanova a five-goal lead, Schneider and Stratton answered with back-to-back goals for a 9-6 Villanova lead with 13:48 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Sophomore attackman Mike Brennan gave Villanova a 10-6 cushion with 6:27 remaining before the Tigers began to make their comeback. With 5:58 left, senior attackman Bill McCutcheon scored off a Schneider feed before Schneider tallied his third goal of the game with 3:45 remaining.
With 43 seconds left, Stratton scored his third goal of the game to close the gap to 10-9 on an unassisted marker.
The Tigers won the ensuing face-off and with 22 seconds remaining, called timeout. However, they were unable to score the tying goal as Villanova held on for the victory.
“I think one of the keys for us tonight was when we scored a couple of goals on the three-minute penalty in the second quarter,” Villanova Coach Michael Corrado said. “We also got a couple of transition goals and that was a big point for us. We just took advantage of some unsettled situations in the first half.
“We got a bunch of chances in the second half, but their goalie made some big saves,” Corrado added. “We got a bit slow on our slides in the second half and Towson took advantage, but we were able to hold on.”
While Small led the Wildcats with three goals, Cunningham added a goal with three assists. DiLoreto, who was named as the CAA Championship Most Outstanding Player, made 10 saves as the Tigers outshot Villanova by a 41-36 margin. DiLoreto was joined by Small, Cunningham and sophomore defenseman Brian Karalunas on the All-Championship Team.
Schneider scored three goals with an assist to lead the Tigers while Stratton contributed his third career “hat trick” with a three-goal performance. Junior goalkeeper Rob Wheeler made 15 saves and was named to the All-Championship Team along with Schneider and junior midfielder Will Harrington.
“I give the offense credit tonight after coming back in the second half like they did,” Wheeler said. “[Villanova] ran all over us tonight and we weren't able to keep up with their cutters. They were burying their shots tonight.”
For the Wildcats, the 11 wins mark the second-highest total in a season and are just one shy of the school record set during the 2004 season when they had a 12-3 mark.
“To come back [after a 5-10 season last year] and get 11 wins and play for the right to get to the NCAA Tournament means a lot to this program,” Corrado said. “We are going to be leaving the CAA and we have mixed emotions about that, but to be joining the Big East Conference is going to help us grow as a program.”
Goals: VIL ? C.J. Small 3, Mark Scioscia 2, T.J. O'Donnell 2, Kevin Cunningham 1, Mike Brennan 1, Tim Driscoll 1; TOW ? Justin Schneider 3, Tim Stratton 3, Brock Armour 1, Bill McCutcheon 1, Randall Cooper 1. Assists: VIL ? Kevin Cunningham 3, Matthew Fritts 1, Chris MacDonald 1; TOW ? Brock Armour 1, Elliott Domanic 1, Justin Schneider 1. Saves: VIL ? Andrew DiLoreto 10 (60:00, 9 goals allowed); TOW ? Rob Wheeler 15 (60:00, 10 goals allowed). Shots: VIL ? 36; TOW ? 41. Extra-Man Opportunities: VIL ? 0 for 4; TOW ? 1 for 5. Attendance: 1,787.
