AMHERST, Mass. – Sophomore midfielder Carl Iacona scored two goals, including the game-winner with 8:17 left in the fourth quarter, as the Tigers (4-5, 2-0) held off a late rally from seventh-ranked University of Massachusetts (7-3, 2-1) to win their third straight game, a 10-9 Colonial Athletic Association victory at Garber Field on Saturday afternoon.

The win marked the Tigers' first victory over a nationally-ranked opponent this season. The Tigers had lost all five games against ranked foes prior to the win. 

“It was a very close game but I was very happy with how we played defense today,” Towson Coach Tony Seaman said. “Our defense did an awesome job, especially in the fourth quarter when we made some mistakes, and Travis (Love) was great in the goal again for us.”

After senior midfielder Will Harrington gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead in the opening three minutes of the first quarter, the Minutemen scored two goals in a two-minute span to take a 2-1 lead with 2:28 remaining. But, Harrington answered with just 18 seconds left in the first stanza on an unassisted goal to tie the game at 2-2.

With 12:25 remaining in the second quarter, Will Manny scored an unassisted goal to give Massachusetts a 3-2 lead before the Tigers countered with three straight goals to regain a 5-3 advantage with 9:43 remaining. Senior midfielder Brock Armour scored a goal with an assist during the run.

However, the Minutemen answered to tie the game at 5-5 at the end of the first half. With 4:08 left, sophomore attackman Steve D'Amario converted a pass from junior Ryan Liebel for his sixth goal of the season. Then, freshman attackman Kyle Smith followed with his fifth goal of the season, an extra-man marker off a feed from junior midfielder Ryan Hantverk with 40 seconds remaining.

The teams traded goals twice in the third quarter to tie the game at 7-7 before the Tigers scored twice in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter to take a two-goal advantage. Sophomore attackman Matt Lamon scored his second goal of the game just over a minute into the fourth quarter before Harrington converted a Lamon pass for his third goal of the game.

But, the Minutemen answered and tied the game by scoring twice in a 23-second span. Hantverk scored off a feed from Liebel with 9:57 remaining before sophomore midfielder Anthony Biscardi followed with an unassisted goal past junior goalkeeper Travis Love to even the score.

With 8:17 remaining, Iacona scored his second goal of the game past sophomore goalkeeper Tim McCormack to give Towson a 10-9 lead it did not relinquish.

The Minutemen had three chances to even the score in the final minute, but were unable to put a shot on goal as Towson sealed the victory.

Harrington led the Tigers with three goals while Lamon scored two goals with an assist in the victory. Love made ten saves for the Tigers, including six in the second half.

Biscardi led the Minutemen with a three-goal effort in the loss while Manny contributed two goals with an assist. McCormack made a career-high 18 saves as the Minutemen were outshot by a 35-30 margin.

The Tigers will return home next Saturday to host Drexel University in a CAA game at 7:30 p.m. at Johnny Unitas® Stadium. Meanwhile, the Minutemen will return to action at Delaware next Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.

“We always have close games with Drexel and they have a great goalkeeper, which creates problems for any opponent,” Coach Seaman said. “It will be a tough match-up and we will have to work hard this week to be prepared for Saturday night.”

College Men's Lacrosse: Towson University 10, #7 University of Massachusetts 9
Towson (4-5, 2-0)  2-3-2-3 / 10
Massachusetts (7-3, 2-1)  2-3-2-2 / 9

Goals: TOW – Will Harrington 3, Christian Pastirik 2, Carl Iacona 2, Matt Lamon 2, Brock Armour 1; UMASS – Anthony Biscardi 3, Will Manny 2, Ryan Hantverk 1, Diogo Godoi 1, Kyle Smith 1, Steve D'Amario 1. Assists: TOW – Brock Armour 2, Pat Britton 2, Matt Lamon 1, Tim Stratton 1; UMASS – Bobby Hayes 2, Ryan Liebel 2, Ryan Hantverk 1, Will Manny 1. Saves: TOW – Travis Love 10 (60:00, 9 goals allowed); UMASS – Tim McCormack 18 (60:00, 10 goals allowed). Shots: TOW – 35; UMASS – 30. Extra-Man Opportunities: TOW – 1 for 3; UMASS – 1 for 3. Attendance: 2,512.

Post-Game Notes:
• The Tigers and the Minutemen were meeting for just the second time in the all-time series … It was the first meeting between the two teams since March 28, 1963 … The series is now tied at one game each.
• There were seven ties and two lead changes in the game.
• The Tigers snapped a 14-game losing streak against nationally-ranked opponents … It was the Tigers' first win over a ranked opponent since a 10-7 victory over 17th-ranked Delaware on April 5, 2008 at Unitas Stadium.
• It was also the Tigers' first win over a top 10 opponent since May 3, 2003 when Towson defeated seventh-ranked Hofstra by a 16-11 margin at Unitas Stadium in the CAA Championship Game. 
• The Tigers improved to 3-1 this year in games decided by two goals or less … They are also 2-1 this year in one-goal games.
• The Minutemen had their four-game win streak snapped on Saturday … It was their longest win streak since 2006.
• The Minutemen have their highest national ranking since being ranked seventh on March 13, 2006.
• The Minutemen fell to 5-2 this season when playing against an unranked opponent … They are also 1-3 in one-goal games this year.
• Coming into the game, the Minutemen had averaged 13.3 goals per outing and were ranked sixth in the nation in scoring offense … The Minutemen had also scored in double figures in each of their first nine games for the first time since 1990.
• Harrington posted his third “hat trick” of the season in the win over Massachusetts … It was also the seventh of his college career.
• Harrington now has 11 multi-goal games in his career and 14 multi-point games.
• Harrington and Pastirik also continued their streak of being the only Towson players who have scored a goal in every game this year … However, Pastirik had his four-game assist streak snapped.
• Armour tallied a point for the fifth straight game and also had a career-high two assists … It was also Armour's first multi-point game of the season.
• Iacona recorded the sixth multi-goal game of his career and the eighth multi-point game of his career.
• Junior midfielder Pat Britton had a career-high two assists in the win over the Minutemen … It was his eighth career multi-point game.
• Love posted double-digit saves for the sixth straight game … He is now 4-2 as the Tigers' starter and has a .584 save percentage … Love has also lowered his goals against average from 11.04 to 9.06 during the Tigers' last five games.
• Biscardi recorded the second “hat trick” of his college career against the Tigers … He also had three goals against Harvard on March 10.
• Manny now has six multi-goal games this season for the Minutemen … He has also recorded at least two points in all ten games this year … He has tallied at least three points in seven of those games.