NEWARK, Del. - Despite two goals from senior midfielder Pat Britton, the Tigers (2-5, 0-1) were unable to hold off defending Colonial Athletic Association champion Delaware (6-3, 1-0) as the Blue Hens rallied to post an 8-7 victory in the Tigers' CAA opener at Delaware Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Junior attackman Eric Smith scored the game-winning goal with 4:29 remaining in the fourth quarter as the Blue Hens overcame a 5-0 first quarter deficit to earn their second straight win. Smith, who scored two goals in the win, took a pass from junior defenseman Taylor Burns and scored past senior goalkeeper Travis Love to give Delaware an 8-7 lead before the Blue Hens held off a late Tiger rally.
Led by two goals each from Britton and senior attackman Tim Stratton, the Tigers jumped out to a commanding 5-0 lead in the first 11 minutes of the game.
But, the Blue Hens answered with a four-goal run of their own to end the first quarter and trim the deficit to 5-4. Junior attackman Grant Kaleikau scored a goal with an assist during the run for the Blue Hens.
After sophomore attackman Matt Hughes upped the Tigers' lead to 6-4 just 35 seconds into the second quarter, the Blue Hens scored back-to-back goals from junior attackman Sean Finegan and sophomore midfielder John Mills to even the score at 6-6 at the intermission.
Following a scoreless third quarter, junior midfielder Carl Iacona regained the Tigers' advantage when he scored his third goal of the year, an unassisted marker past senior goalkeeper Noah Fossner with 13:21 left in regulation.
But, the Blue Hens answered with a pair of goals to take a one-goal lead. Before Smith tallied the game-winning goal, senior midfielder Kevin Kaminski scored his sixth goal of the season with an unassisted marker to tie the game with 11:11 left.
Smith and Finegan each scored two goals to lead the Blue Hens while Kaleikau added a goal with two assists. Fossner made 10 saves for Delaware, which outshot Towson by a 29-27 margin.
Hughes and Stratton each scored two goals with one assist in a losing effort for the Tigers while Love made nine saves.
The Tigers will return to Johnny Unitas® Stadium next Saturday afternoon to host eighth-ranked Hofstra in a Colonial Athletic Association game at noon. Meanwhile, the Blue Hens will travel to Drexel next Saturday.
Post-Game Notes
- The Tigers and the Blue Hens met for the 52nd time in the all-time series on Saturday ... Delaware has won two straight games in the series, but the Tigers still hold a 35-17 advantage.
- Despite the loss, the Tigers have won six of the last ten meetings against Delaware.
- Each of the last eight games in the Towson-Delaware series have been decided by three goals or less ... Of the last 20 games between the two long-time rivals, 17 of them have been decided by four goals or less.
- The Tigers held Delaware scoreless in the third quarter, marking the fifth time in seven games that Towson has not allowed a goal in the third quarter ... Towson has outscored its opponents by a 9-6 margin in the third quarter this year.
- Hughes has scored a goal in each of his last three games ... He also has a point in 10 straight games.
- Hughes has scored the Tigers' first goal of the game three times this year.
- With his two-goal effort on Saturday, Britton has now scored a goal in four consecutive games ... He also has a point in eight straight games.
- Britton tallied his ninth career multi-goal game with the two goals against Delaware.
- After not scoring in the Tigers' first five games, Stratton has scored three goals in the last two games ... He also posted his 12th career multi-goal game and 30th career multi-point game.
- With an assist in the first quarter on Saturday, senior midfielder Elliott Domanic tallied his first point since May 2, 2009 against Villanova.
- Kaminski scored the 50th goal of his college career in the fourth quarter on Saturday.
