TOWSON, Md. - Graduate student Christian Pastirik scored his third goal of the game with six seconds remaining in regulation as the Tigers (1-3) earned their first win of the season, a 10-9 non-conference victory over Navy (3-4) at Johnny Unitas® Stadium on Tuesday evening.
After the Midshipmen rallied from a 9-5 deficit to tie the game, Pastirik took a pass from freshman attackman Matt Hughes and scored on a low shot from 15 yards out past sophomore goalkeeper RJ Wickham for the game-winning goal.
"I didn't want to go to overtime, so we were lucky to get that goal with six seconds left," Pastirik said. "It's always tough to play against Navy. They are a good team and to get a win against them is huge for us."
After the teams traded goals to open the game, the Tigers took a 3-1 lead with 5:06 remaining in the period with back-to-back goals from Pastirik and junior attackman Tim Stratton.
But, Navy responded to tie the game at 3-3 late in the first quarter. With 2:45 remaining, senior midfielder Patrick Moran scored off a feed from senior attackman Brendan Connors to cut the deficit to 3-2. Connors tied the game with 52 seconds remaining in the frame with an unassisted goal past junior goalkeeper Travis Love.
Led by two goals from Stratton, the Tigers answered with a three-goal run to start the second quarter, giving Towson a 6-3 advantage. With 4:07 left in the first half, Connors tallied his second goal of the game to close the margin to 6-4 before Navy senior defenseman Jake Brosnan scored the first goal of his college career with 17 seconds left in the half.
For the second straight quarter, the Tigers scored three consecutive goals to begin the period. After junior midfielder Pat Britton scored an unassisted goal to give Towson a 7-5 advantage, junior midfielder Scott Ruhl followed by scoring his first goal of the season off a feed from senior midfielder Brock Armour.
With 7:13 remaining in the third quarter, Britton tallied his second goal of the game to give Towson a 9-5 advantage.
Connors ignited a four-goal Navy run with 2:16 left in the third period, scoring his third goal of the game before sophomore attackman Ryan O'Leary cut the Midshipmen deficit to 9-7 with 20 seconds left.
Trailing by two goals to start the fourth quarter, senior midfielder Joe Lennon scored with 10:39 remaining to trim the deficit to 9-8. Then, Connors tied the game at 9-9 with 4:11 left by scoring off a feed from senior attackman Andy Warner.
Pastirik and Stratton each scored three goals to lead the Tigers while Britton added a pair of markers. Making the first start of his college career, Love tallied a career-high 14 saves, including five in the first quarter.
"It's a win for us," Towson Coach Tony Seaman said. "The big thing for us was to play for 60 minutes tonight. We had played for 48-50 minutes in the first three games and tonight, I thought we finished things up and got a well-needed win.
"You have to give Navy credit," Coach Seaman added. "They hung in there and took advantage of some breaks. Travis played very well tonight and made some tough saves for us tonight."
Connors scored a career-high four goals for the Midshipmen in a losing effort while O'Leary contributed two goals with an assist. Wickham posted 12 saves for Navy, which was outshot by a 38-32 margin.
"I am proud of our guys for coming back tonight," Navy Coach Richie Meade said. "I thought we dug ourselves a little bit of a hole. I thought both teams played pretty well and it was a hard-fought game."
The Tigers will wrap up their quick two-game homestand on Sunday afternoon when they host top-ranked Virginia at Unitas Stadium at 12 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU and WMAR-TV in the Baltimore area.
Meanwhile, the Midshipmen return home for a Patriot League game against Holy Cross on Saturday at 12 p.m.
College Men's Lacrosse: Towson University 10, United States Naval Academy 9
Navy (3-4) 3-2-2-2 / 9
Towson (1-3) 3-3-3-1 / 10
Goals: NAVY - Brendan Connors 4, Ryan O'Leary 2, Patrick Moran 1, Joe Lennon 1, Jake Brosnan 1; TOW - Christian Pastirik 3, Tim Stratton 3, Pat Britton 2, Will Harrington 1, Scott Ruhl 1. Assists: NAVY - Brendan Connors 1, Nikk Davis 1, Ryan O'Leary 1, Matt Vernam 1, Andy Warner 1; TOW - Matt Hughes 2, Brock Armour 1, Matt Lamon 1. Saves: NAVY - RJ Wickham 12 (60:00, 10 goals allowed); TOW - Travis Love 14 (60:00, 9 goals allowed). Shots: NAVY - 32; TOW - 38. Extra-Man Opportunities: NAVY - 1 for 2; TOW - 1 for 5. Attendance: 1,240.
Post-Game Notes:
- The Tigers and the Midshipmen were meeting for the first time since the 1997 season ... It was the ninth all-time meeting in the series ... The Tigers have won the last two games in the series, but trail the series by a 5-4 margin.
- The Tigers snapped a four-game losing streak, dating back to last season ... The Tigers lost to Villanova in the CAA Championship Game last year by a 10-9 margin before three straight losses to begin this season.
- The Tigers also snapped a 12-game losing streak against in-state opponents ... During the streak, the Tigers lost to Maryland four times, UMBC and Johns Hopkins three times each and a pair of losses against Loyola ... Prior to Tuesday night, the Tigers' last win against an in-state rival came on February 26, 2007 at Loyola.
- Stratton tallied the fourth "hat trick" of his college career against Navy on Tuesday night ... He also scored a goal for the 10th straight game.
- Towson's midfield accounted for seven of the team's ten goals against Navy on Tuesday ... Of the team's 58 goals this season, 40 of them have come from the midfield.
- Connors entered the game with just five goals on the season for the Midshipmen ... He notched his fourth career "hat trick" in the loss for Navy.
- O'Leary had the first multi-point game of his career against Towson.
