Opening Face-Off
The third-seeded Tigers advance to the 2015 CAA Championship game following an 11-8 win over second-seeded Drexel in the first of two semifinal games hosted by Fairfield University. The Tigers got a career-best day from attackman Ryan Drenner (1g, 4a) and a season-high effort midfielder Justin Mabus (2g, 2a). It was sweet revenge for Towson after falling 11-10 just five days prior. The Tigers reach the CAA title game for the eighth time since the league first sponsored lacrosse in 2002.

In The National Rankings
The Tigers received votes in both national polls this week, the first time Towson hasn't been ranked since also receiving votes in the USILA Coaches' and Inside Lacrosse Cascade/Maverik Media Polls in the preseason. Neither poll released points for the teams receiving votes, but the Tigers were the second team to receive votes in both polls. Thursday's foe, Drexel, also received votes in both ranking systems.

Updating the No. 3 Seed Tigers
With another two goals on Thursday, Joe Seider (29-6-35) but fellow attackman Ryan Drenner (16-17-33) joins him in the 30 point club this season. Drenner leads Towson with 17 assist, just three ahead of attackman-come-midfielder Spencer Parks (15-14-29). Max Siskind continued his torrid pace with 15 goals in Towson's last seven games, just one behind Drenner's 16 points (7g, 9a). Justin Mabus (10-6-16) and Ben McCarty (9-6-15) round out the Tigers' active double-digit point getters. The Tiger defense held an opponent to single digits for the 13th time this season. CAA DPoY Tyler White has 146 saves at a 58.2 percent clip and a 7.18 goals against average.

Scouting The Minutemen
Nick Mariano (22-18-40) hit the 40-point mark with three points on one goal and two assists in UMass's 9-8 semifinal win over host Fairfield. Brendan Hegarty (20-6-26) and Peter Lindley (17-9-26) are tied for second on the team, with the latter scoring five extra-man goals this season. Five other Minutemen have tallied double-digit points. Zach Oliveri got the win in goal Thursday night, bringing his season save total to 125, but carries a 10.45 goals against average with his 5-7 record. The Minutemen heat up as the game progresses, being out-scored 40-27 in the first quarter but putting up 43 goals against 34 allowed in the fourth quarter. UMass will be making its first appearance in the title game since winning it all in 2012 against Drexel, 18-12, as the top seed in Amherst, Mass.

Towson-UMass History
Saturday's game will be just the 10th meeting all-time between the two programs. Towson leads the meetings with a 5-4 edge, thanks to a 6-3 win at home on March 28. Saturday's contest will be the third CAA Tournament meeting between the programs, which first met in 1963. The postseason series is tied at 1-1, with Towson winning 13-6 in the 2010 semifinals and UMass in the 2012 semifinals. The teams meet in the title game for the first time.

Towson-UMass By the Numbers
All-Time Series Record    Towson Leads, 5-4
    at Towson    Towson Leads, 3-2
    at UMass    Series Tied, 2-2
    at Neutral Sites    n/a
    at Unknown Sites    n/a
First Meeting    3/28/1963 - UMass 7, Towson 3
Last Meeting     3/28/2015 - Towson 6, UMass 3
Streak    Towson +3

Last Time Out vs. UMass
The Tigers opened the CAA portion of their 2015 schedule with the Minutemen of Massachusetts, taking a hard-fought 6-3 win at home on March 28. Mike Lynch potted two goals and was the only multiple goal scorer for Towson, while four teammates, Max Siskind, Joe Seider, Spencer Parks and Justin Mabus, all scored once. The eventual CAA Defensive Player of the Year Tyler White made 14 saves, allowing the fewest goals by the Tigers in a CAA game in the Shawn Nadelen Era (2012). Grant Whiteway scored twice for UMass with Nick Mariano scoring the third. Zach Oliveri suffered the loss and made nine saves. 

Careers Against UMass
Senior Greg Cuccinello has four career goals against Massachusetts, striking twice in both the 2013 and 2014 meetings. Classmate Justin Mabus also has four points, scoring once and adding three assists to his stat line. Junior Ben McCarty, a co-captain with the aforementioned seniors, has two goals and one assist for three points. Having played just once against UMass, junior transfer Spencer Parks has three points on a goal with two helpers, while All-CAA first team Joe Seider has three career markers against Massachusetts. Fellow first teamer and senior defenseman JoJo Ostrander is poised to make his sixth appearance against the Minutemen. CAA Defensive Player of the Year Tyler White has logged 120 minutes against UMass, building a 2-0 record with 30 saves at a blistering 78.9 percent clip and a goals against average of 4.00. 

Reaching The 'Ship
Towson will be making its eighth appearance in the CAA Championship game, winning it all on four occasions, more than any other team in CAA history. The Tigers reach the title game for the second time in the four-year tenure of head coach Shawn Nadelen, who guided the program to the 2013 championship. Nadelen has been part of three of Towson's four championships, working as an assistant coach for head man Tony Season for the 2004 and 2005 titles, and as the head coach himself in 2013. The Tigers are 4-3 all-time in the title match,

All-time in the CAA Tournament
Towson makes its way into the CAA Tournament for the 11th time since the league began sponsoring the sport in 2002. The Tigers have won four CAA Titles, the most among active programs. All-time, the Tigers are 12-6 in the tournament. The Tigers have qualified for the CAA Tournament in each season under head coach Shawn Nadelen (since 2012) and will meet Drexel in the semifinals for a third-straight season. For a list of Towson's All-time CAA Tournament games and more breakdowns, please see page 8.

Where's The Top Seed?
With a pair of "upsets" in the first round of this year's CAA Semifinals, the top-seeded team will not be in the CAA Championship game for the first time since the 2011 season. Third-seeded Towson topped second-seeded Drexel 11-8 followed by a 9-8 win for fourth-seeded Massachusetts over regular season champion Fairfield. In the 2011 edition, fourth-seeded Delaware knocked off third-seeded UMass in Amherst, claiming the CAA's automatic qualifying bid.

A Game of Runs
Towson utilized a pair of runs to top Drexel 11-8 in the semifinals, one of four goals over a two-minute stretch to end the first and start the second quarters. The second run came at the end of the third and start of the fourth and was a three-goal to seal the win. Last weekend, the Tigers ripped off five unanswered goals, including a natural hat trick from Ben McCarty, during the third quarter and start of the fourth to erase a 7-2 deficit. Towson has a run of at least three goals in 13 of the 15 games this season. So far in 2015, Towson has 16 runs of three goals or more, including a six- and four-goal run at Delaware and a pair for four goalers at UMBC. The Tigers potted seven straight at Georgetown in the third game of the season.

Getting Hot at the Right Time
Schedules are divided into three parts: Nonconference, conference and post season. The Tigers have gotten hot lately with four players scoring double-digit points over the last six games. Ryan Drenner leads the way with 12 on an unselfish four goals and eight assists. Max Siskind has been lights out with 11 goals in the last six games. Joe Seider (9-2-11), Ben McCarty (8-3-11) and Justin Mabus (8-3-11) are all tied for second most in point with Siskind. Spencer Parks is knocking on the double-digit door with nine on two goals and seven helpers.

Drenner's Pretty Good Day
Ryan Drenner had a career-best five points in the semifinals against Drexel, scoring once while dishing out four assists. His five points were the most scored by a Tiger in a CAA playoff game since teammate and co-captain Ben McCarty dropped six goals on Drexel in the 2013 semifinals, which was also an 11-8 win at a neutral site in University Park, Pa. when Penn State hosted the tournament. 

Last Second Squeaker
Officially, Max Siskind's goal to end the first half came with two seconds left (Stat Crew does not allow for fractions), but the goal was scored with 1.5 seconds on the clock. It was the latest in a quarter that a Tiger has scored since Justin Mabus stuck with four seconds left in the third quarter against No. 20 Fairfield, also scored at Rafferty Stadium. Siskind's goal ties for the second-latest in a quarter for Towson this season; fellow redshirt senior Andrew Hodgson scored with one second left in the second quarter in the season-opening win over No. 5 Johns Hopkins, as well as a marker with two seconds left in the third quarter at Mount St. Mary's on Feb. 27. The Tigers are 3-0 this season when getting a goal in the final five seconds of any quarter.

Tigers Land Four on All-CAA Teams, White Named Defensive Player of the Year
Towson had four players voted to the CAA's All-Conference Teams, including three first team selections in goalie Tyler White, defenseman JoJo Ostrander and attackman Joe Seider. Longstick midfielder Tyler Mayes was selected to the conference's second team. Additionally, White was tabbed as the league's Defensive Player of the Year, the first Tiger to earn that honor since current assistant coach Dan Cocchi won the award in 2003. Coincidently, Towson's CAA Defensive Players of the Year sported the same number for the Black and Gold: Number 2.

Towson is the Place to be for Defense
Redshirt junior Tyler White was tabbed as the 2015 CAA Defensive Player of the Year. He was not the only Tiger to enjoy that honor; Towson women's lacrosse player Michelle Dufault was named as the women's 2015 CAA Defensive Player of the Year as well. It is just the second time in league history that a school has had both the men's and women's Defensive Players of the Year in the same season (Hofstra 2005 - Brett Moyer, Bridget Eder) (h/t Megan O'Brien).

Red Hot Starts
The Tigers like to jump out early on opponents. So far this season, Towson has scored first in eight of the 11 games. Not only that, but the Tigers have out-scored opponents 44-24 in the first 15 minutes, including three first-quarter shutouts. Those quick starts have paid dividends for Towson this season; the Tigers are 7-1 when scoring the first goal of the game. The lone loss under that criteria was a 7-6 defeat against No. 17 Ohio State. 

Not a Bad Place to Be
The Tigers have played in Rafferty Stadium just twice, winning both contests. Towson topped Fairfield 8-7 on April 11, followed by Thursday's 11-8 neutral site win over third-seeded Drexel.

Road Warriors
Every team loves playing at home in front of its supporters. But the 2015 edition of the Tigers have been a force away from Towson this season, holding a 7-2 overall record, including a 6-2 mark in true road games. The Tigers out-score opponents 84-66 away from home this season, averaging 9.33 goals per game. The Tigers went 3-3 at Johnny Unitas Stadium this year, scoring 6.83 goals per home game. Towson's road shooting percentage is 25.4 compared to 21.6 at home. Joe Seider leads the scoring efforts on the road with 22 points on 18 goals and four assists while linemate Ryan Drenner has 19 points with nine goals and 10 assists. Faceoffs have been big for Towson on the road as the squad has won 99 of 182 draws (.544 percent) against 47-107 (.439 percent) at home. The Tigers out-score road foes 32-15 in the first quarter this season.

On the Career Charts
Redshirt junior Tyler White has made 290 saves in his Tiger career. That number ranks him 26th among active Division I goalies. He is second among the CAA's goalkeepers, trailing only Hofstra's graduating keeper, Chris Selva's 395.

On This Date in the Nadelen Era
The Tigers have played on May 2 just once in the four years under head coach Shawn Nadelen and it was a familiar foe in UMass. Towson suffered a 10-3 loss against No. 1 Massachusetts in the first round of the 2012 CAA Tournament. The Tigers have a split record on May 2 in their Division I Era (1980), going 4-4 on this date in that span.

Defensive Minded Conference (as of April 26)
Paced by Towson's second-ranked scoring defense, allowing just 7.36 goals per game, the CAA as a whole has allowed the second-fewest goals among the nation's 11 conferences, surrendering just 758 combined goals this year. Only the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) has given up fewer combined goals (702). Conversely, the Patriot League has combined to give up 1,270 goals.

Seider Named CAA Player of the Week (April 6)
Sophomore attackman Joe Seider paced Towson to a 1-0 week as the Tigers (8-3, 2-0 CAA) topped league rival Delaware 12-7 Saturday night. Seider tied a career-high in points, goals and assists with a four-goal, one-assist evening at Delaware Stadium. Seider was efficient, scoring on 40 percent of his shots while also collecting two groundballs. Seider was credited with the game-winning goals, his second of the season, while also increasing his scoring streak to 13 games.

Hat Trick of Hat Tricks
In the 12-7 win at Delaware on April 4, three Tigers posted hat tricks, led by four goals from Joe Seider, and three apiece from Max Siskind and Justin Mabus. They trio of hat trickers became the first Towson players to score hat tricks in the same game since March 21, 2012 in a 17-8 Tiger win over visiting Mercer. Towson got hat tricks from Matt Lamon (4), Sean Maguire (3) and Matt Hughes (3).

White Named USILA Division I Defensive Player of the Week (April 1)
Redshirt junior Tyler White was named the USILA Division I Defensive Player of the Week on Wednesday, following a 14-save effort against UMass in the Tigers' 6-3 win over the visiting Minutemen. White allowed just three goals, the fewest in a conference game for Towson in the Shawn Nadelen Era (2012). White is the first Tiger to win the award and first Towson lacrosse player to earn national weekly plaudits since Ben McCarty was tabbed Inside Lacrosse Cascade Rookie of the Week in 2013.

Ostrander Named Inside Lacrosse Mid-Season All-America Second Team
Senior close defenseman JoJo Ostrander was named to Inside Lacrosse's Midseason All-America Second Team, which released Thursday morning. Ostrander anchors a defense the is ranked third in country, allowing just 6.90 goals per game, including eight straight games allowing single-digit goals. Ostrander has started every game this season, recording 22 groundballs and forcing eight turnovers. He was one of two CAA players named to the Midseason All-American list.