EMMITSBURG, Md. – Behind a hat trick from Joe Seider, the No. 15 Towson University men's lacrosse team improved to 3-1 for the first time since 2005, topping Mount St. Mary's University 7-4 at Waldron Family Stadium Friday afternoon.
 
In a tight game that featured three ties and four lead changes, Towson took the control for good with 2:29 left in the third quarter on Seider's second of the day. Andrew Hodgson and Ryan Drenner scored back-to-back goals for the Tigers to break the game open to a 6-3 lead.
 
"It goes in the win column, and that's what we came up here for and I told the guys that," said Towson head coach Shawn Nadelen. "We knew Mount St. Mary's was going to play tough, they came out hot against Delaware, fell down five goals. In the third quarter they were down 10-5 and ended up losing 11-10, with an opportunity at the end to win it. We knew this was going to be a tough team."
 
Seider led the game with his trio of goals, followed by two from Spencer Parks and one each from Hodgson and Drenner. Hodgson had a game-high two assists while Greg Cuccinello also had a helper on an extra-man goal.
 
Mount St. Mary's (1-2) was paced by two goals from Justin Gosnell while Evan Gormley and Bubba Johnson added one marker apiece. The Mountaineers were held without an assist in the non-conference game.
 
Tyler White made nine saves, helping Towson hold its third opponent of the season to single digit goals. The Tiger defense caused 12 of The Mount's 18 turnovers. Towson's riding game was active, allowing Mount St. Mary's to clear successfully on 13 of its 21 attempts.
 
Matt Vierheller made 17 saves for Mount St. Mary's, including seven in the second quarter to limit Towson to one goal in that period. Vierheller stared down 44 shots, the most attempts on the road for Towson since April 20, 2013 at Drexel University.
 
Towson, which improved to 2-0 on the road, had a strong game at the faceoff X as Alec Burckley tied a career-high with 10 wins in his 15 attempts. He was one of two Tigers with six groundballs, joined by wingman Hodgson, who was named to The Tewaarton Award Watch List Thursday.
 
The Tigers, who are also ranked 17^th in the Cascade/Maverik Media Poll, served just one penalty during the game, a 30 second push with possession. The man-down unit held the Mountaineers without a goal during that stretch. Towson's extra-man unit went one-for-two with Parks scoring his second on the man up.
 
The Mount took the lead in the first minute on Johnson's goal. Towson evened the scoring at 4:51 as Seider tallied his eighth of the year, giving Hodgson his first assist. Mount St. Mary's regained the lead in the second quarter as Gosnell tallied his first of the year with 11:28 to go. Parks, the reigning CAA Player of the Week, tied the game at two apiece with 8:08 to go in the half. Hodgson was credited with his second assist of the afternoon.
 
Despite the 2-2 tie in the first half, Towson put 13 of its 19 first-half shots on goal. Vierheller was up to the task, stopping 11 Tiger attempts in the first 30 minutes.
 
Towson out-scored Mount St. Mary's 3-1 in the third period, set off by Parks just over a minute and a half into the quarter. Gormley tied the game for a third and final time with 3:32 on the board before Seider and Hodgson scored twice in the final 2:29 of the third.
 
Drenner and Seider tacked on insurance goals at 12:10 and 1:42 respectively, bookending a Gosnell goal with 3:16 left in the game.

The Tigers play their third-straight road game on Tuesday as Towson takes on the United States Naval Academy at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Game time is set for 7 p.m. in Annapolis, Md.

- TowsonTigers.com -