Opening Face-Off
The Tigers completed the comeback against High Point Wednesday night in a First Four game, overcoming a 5-0 deficit in the first quarter for a 10-8 win against the Panthers. The Tigers got a hat trick from redshirt senior attackman Max Siskind as well as a pair of markers from sophomore Mike Lynch. Alec Burckley was a force at the X, winning 15 of his 22 faceoffs (.681 percent) along with a career-high 12 groundballs. Tyler White made nine saves in goal.

In The National Rankings
After a one-week spell in the receiving votes column, the Tigers climbed back into the national polls, the final voting until after the Divison I National Championship on May 25 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Towson moved to No. 17 in this week's USILA Coaches' Poll, and was ranked No. 18 by the Inside Lacrosse Cascade/Maverik Media Poll. Towson was the only member of the CAA to be ranked.

Updating the Advancing Tigers
Joe Seider (33-7-40) set the Tigers' single-season mark for shots (130) in Wednesday's win as he increased his goal lead. Ryan Drenner (16-18-34) is second on the team in points and leads in assists while Spencer Parks (15-14-29)is closing in on the 30-point milestone. Justin Mabus (13-9-22) and Max Siskind (20-0-20) reached the 20-point mark in the First Four win as Siskind notched the fourth hat trick of his redshirt season. Siskind has at least one goal in eight of the last nine games. Tyler White back stops Towson's fourth-ranked scoring defense with the second-best goals against average in the nation (7.28). Alec Burckley is now 148-268 (.552) at the faceoff X.

Scouting The Top-Seeded Fighting Irish
Behind the balanced scoring effort of Tewaaraton Trophy Finalist Matt Kavanagh (26-24-50), Notre Dame earned the top seed in this year's tournament. Additionally, three other Irish players have 30-plus points; Conor Doyle (24-17-41), Mikey Wynne (32-3-35) and Sergio Perkovic (24-6-30). As a team, Notre Dame struggles at the faceoff X, winning 47.8 percent of the time. PJ Finley leads the Irish at 95-186 (.511) while Nick Ossello has won 38-of-89 (.427). At 16-and-32, John Travisano Jr. has spotted in at the X. Shane Doss has played all 12 games this year, holding a 9-2 overall record and has 11 starts. Doss has made 119 saves at a 56.4 percent clip and carries a goals against average of 8.73, good enough for 20th in the country as a sophomore.

Towson-Notre Dame History
Saturday's game will be the first-ever meeting between the programs. Towson has never played a game in the State of Indiana, but has two games against Butler on the books.

Towson-Notre Dame By the Numbers
All-Time Series Record    First Meeting
    at Towson    First Meeting
    at High Point    First Meeting
    at Neutral Sites    n/a
    at Unknown Sites    n/a
First Meeting    May 9, 2015
Last Meeting     n/a
Streak    n/a

Last Time Out vs. Notre Dame
Towson and the Fighting Irish will meet for the first time in program history Saturday afternoon in the NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Tournament First Round.

Careers Against Notre Dame
Saturday's game will be the first-ever meeting between Towson and Notre Dame. However, junior transfer Spencer Parks logged time against the Irish prior to transferring from North Carolina. The Fallston, Md. native scored once along with one assist as a freshman in 2013. He tallied an assist in a March 1, 2014 game with two shots on goal. Transfer Nick Gorman, who came to Towson from Denver, saw time off the bench in a 2012 game at Notre Dame, collecting one groundball and causing one turnover. Joey Pfister, a Jacksonville transfer, started against Notre Dame in a game last season, grabbing three groundballs, causing one turn over.

Tigers vs. Irish
Saturday's game will be the first-ever meeting between the Towson and Notre Dame lacrosse programs. However, a handful of other Tiger teams have taken the fight to the Irish. Towson softball split a pair of games at the Low Country Invitational in South Carolina during the 2008 season, falling 7-0 on March 14, followed by a 7-2 win the next day. The swimming Tiger teams are both 0-1 all-time against Notre Dame. 

Overcoming the Deficit
Towson trailed 5-0 midway through the first quarter Wednesday night, the biggest deficit the Tigers have had at the start of a game since Loyola went up 4-0 five minutes into the Feb. 18 game. Not only was it the biggest gap Towson has over come in a win this year, but eliminating a 5-0 Delaware advantage on March 14, 2014. The Tigers won 11-8 at home, thanks to a 7-0 second half. 

First NCAA Tournament Win Since...
With Wednesday night's come-from-behind victory, the Tigers advanced in the NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Tournament for the first time since an 11-6 win over Penn State on May 10, 2003 - a span of 12 years. That home game was followed by a 14-6 defeat at the hands of No. 1 Johns Hopkins, the eventual runner up. Towson will be looking for back-to-back wins in the Tournament since 2001, topping Duke 12-10 and Maryland 12-11 before falling to No. 1 Princeton 12-11.

Welcome Back Mr. Cordes - Again!
After missing eight games with a lower body injury, Towson saw the return of Andrew Cordes to the field. The junior close defenseman returned in the Tigers' 11-8 CAA Semifinal win over Drexel, collecting one groundball in his return as a substitute. He again played in Towson's 9-8 win over UMass in the CAA Championship game, adding another two groundballs to his total, again coming off the bench. Cordes returned to the starting lineup for the first time since March 7 at UMBC. Towson is 7-2 when Cordes plays this season.

All-Time Against The Hoosier State
Towson has very few games against the State of Indiana. In fact, Towson has only played one other program from the midwestern state, Butler. The Tigers split a pair of games with the Bulldogs in 1998 (16-7 Butler) and 2006 (16-7 Towson). Both games were played in Towson.

Cuccinello is Back
After going 10 games without a point, senior midfielder Greg Cuccinello now has goals in back-to-back games for the first time in 2015 and has three goals with one assist in the last two elimination games. It marks the first time since March 29 and April 5 Cuccinello has scored at least one goal in back to back games.

Lock Up When You're Done
Wedneday's game was the final home event at Johnny Unitas Stadium for the Towson athletic department in the 2014-15 academic year. The 2015 field hockey schedule has not yet been released, however, the 2015 football schedule has, with the Tigers' home opener on Sept. 12 against Saint Francis University at a time to be determined.

Shots, Shots, Shots, Shots
Sophomore attackman Joe Seider is not afraid to pull the trigger this season, ripping off 130 attempts to date and leading Towson with 33 goals, the first 30-goal getter since the Tigers' last made the NCAA Tournament in 2013. Seider had six shots against High Point in the First Four game, surpassing the previous Towson single-season record of 129, set by John Cumo (1979) and Kevin Sturm (1999). 

Like Father Like Son
Redshirt Max Siskind hit the 20-goal mark on Wednesday, doing so with a flourish, scoring his fourth hat trick of the season. His father, Jules, surpassed the 20-goal mark in his senior campaign (1979), finishing as one of Towson's leading scorers that year with 32 goals. It was the final season at the Division II level for Towson before moving to Division I for 1980.

X Marks the Spot
Over the last eight games, Towson has dominated the faceoff X, winning nearly 60 percent of the time (91-155), helped along by 86 wins in 143 attempts by sophomore Alec Burckley. Towson is 6-2 in that stretch going against some of the top specialists in the country in Nick Saputo (Drexel) and Jamie Piluso (High Point), going a combined 41-64 against those two in three games (.641 percent). Conversely, Towson went a combined 84-176 (.477 percent) in the regular season non-conference portion of the schedule, a 6-3 record in that time.

Groundballs Win Games
There has long been the adage in lacrosse that "groundballs win games", meaning that in general, your team has more possessions than the opponent, translating to more scoring opportunities. The Tigers have lived by that term as of late, out-groundballing foes by 40 in the Tigers' last three games (93-53), all wins in elimination games. Since the postseason began, Towson is averaging 31 groundballs per game. In the Tigers' two losses to end the regular season, opponents grabbed 49 groundballs to Towson's 45.

One-Sided Groundballs
In the Tigers' 9-8 CAA Championship-clinching win over UMass, the Tigers out-groundballed the Minutemen 27-12. It was the fewest grounders Towson allowed this season, nine fewer than the previous mark of 21 allowed in three previous games. It was the fewest groundballs allowed since 14 against High Point (Feb. 8) and Mount St. Mary's (March 1) during the 2014 campaign and marks the second-fewest groundballs allowed in the Shawn Nadelen era (2012).

Claiming The Prize
Towson won its fifth CAA title on Saturday, topping UMass 9-8 thanks to a behind-the-back shot from senior Justin Mabus. The five CAA trophies are the most by any program in the league's men's lacrosse history. Delaware is second with three titles while Hofstra and former member Loyola are tied for third with a pair each. UMass and Drexel have won one CAA crown apiece. 

Put on Your Dancing Shoes
The Tigers reach the NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Tournament for a 12th time after winning the CAA title for the fifth time. All-time, the Tigers have competed in 19 NCAA Tournaments, including seven NCAA Division II appearances, claiming the 1974 Division II Championship. The Tigers are 14-17 in NCAA Tournaments, with n 8-11 mark in the Division I Era (1980).

Extra Time is Always a Good Time
While the Tigers didn't get the win over Navy in an 8-7 triple overtime defeat, the Tigers did return to one note made after that game: When the Tigers play at least one multiple overtime game, they almost always make the NCAA Tournament. That has been the case now five times after the Tigers grabbed their fifth CAA trophy. The only two times it did not happen were the 2006 season, when the Tigers finished with a No. 14 ranking by the USILA, and the 2009 season.

A Game of Runs
It was another set of runs that sparked Towson in the First Four game Wednesday night, with the Tigers ripping the game open with an 8-0 run over 29 minutes from 2:30 of the first quarter to 3:19 of the third. The eight-straight goals were the most for the Tigers this season and first eight-goal run since opening a March 1, 2014 game against Mount St. Mary's with an 8-0 run en route to a 9-1 victory. Towson also utilized a pair of runs to surge past UMass in the CAA Championship game, putting together two runs of three goals, including a 3-0 start to the game. Towson has a run of at least three goals in 15 of the 17 games this season. So far in 2015, Towson has 19 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 five players scoring double-digit points over the last eight games. Justin Mabus (11-6-17) leads the way, with Joe Seider (13-3-16) right behind him. Max Siskind (15-0-15) is within striking distance of Mabus while Ryan Drenner (4-9-13) and Ben McCarty (9-3-12) are close behind. Since the postseason began, Mabus is the only Tiger with 10 points on a balanced five goals and five assists. Seider is nearly there with six goals and two dishes in three games. Siskind and Drenner are tied for third with six points apiece, Siskind on six goals, Drenner with one marker and five helpers.

All-Tournament Selections
Four Tigers were named to the CAA's All-Tournament Team after Towson claimed its fifth league title. Ryan Drenner (1-5-6), Greg Cuccinello (2-0-2) and JoJo Ostrander were named to the All-Tournament team, in addition to Joe Seider, who was named Most Outstanding Player with five goals, including a hat trick in the championship game, and one assist.

That Top 10 Moment, Though
After making an errant pass, Justin Mabus collected his own groundball and finished behind-the-back with a no-look shot for what proved to be the game-winning goal in Towson's 9-8 CAA Championship victory over Massachusetts. For his efforts, Mabus' goal earned the No. 4 billing on SportsCenter's' coveted Top 10 list Saturday evening/Sunday morning. While reaching the Top 10 is impressive in itself, doing so on a day featuring the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, the Kentucky Derby and Game 7 between the Spurs and Clippers is even more impressive.

Then There was One
There is only one CAA team still playing lacrosse, the Towson Tigers. The CAA qualified just one team for the NCAA tournament this year. Of the 18 teams among the NCAA's 69 Division I programs, three are from the Chesapeake State: No. 17 Towson, No. 7 Maryland and No. 10 Johns Hopkins. 

Mabus Named Towson Male Athlete of the Week
Following his SportsCenter Top 10 goal, senior Justin Mabus was named as the Towson Male Athlete of the Week on May 5. Mabus finished the CAA Championship run with seven points on four goals and three assists, including a season-best four points in the semifinal game on two markers with a pair of helpers. It is the seventh time this season a men's lacrosse player has won the department's honor and second-straight week after Ben McCarty was tapped last week.

Burckley Firing on All Cylinders
Since CAA play began on March 28 and running right through the CAA Tournament, sophomore faceoff specialist Alec Burckley has been on fire, winning 41 of his 61 draws (.672 percent) in that span. During the CAA Tournament, Burckley went off for 26 wins in his 39 faceoffs (.667 percent). The second-year specialist snagged 12 groundballs along the way as well. Going against High Point's Jamie Piluso, who won 56.9 percent of his faceoffs coming into Wednesday's game, Burckley went 15-of-22 with a career-high 12 groundballs. 

The Odds Have It
Towson has won the CAA Tournament on five separate occasions, the most title in league history. Of those five trophies, four bear odd-number years as the Tigers claimed the league titles in 2003, 2005, 2013 and 2015. The only even-numbered year the Tigers won the title was 2004, the middle title in a run of three consecutive. 

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 nine games. Not only that, but the Tigers have out-scored opponents 49-30 in the first 15 minutes, including three first-quarter shutouts. Those quick starts have paid dividends for Towson this season; the Tigers are 8-1 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 three times, winning all contests. Towson topped Fairfield 8-7 on April 11, followed by Thursday's 11-8 neutral site win over third-seeded Drexel. On May 2, the Tigers claimed their fifth CAA title with a thrilling 9-8 win over Massachusetts in another neutral site game. The Tigers improved to 3-0 in the Stags' Rafferty Stadium.

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 an 8-2 overall record, including a 6-2 mark in true road games. The Tigers out-score opponents 93-74 away from home this season, averaging 9.30 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 25.1 compared to 21.6 at home. Joe Seider leads the scoring efforts on the road with 25 points on 21 goals and four assists while linemate Ryan Drenner has 20 points with nine goals and 11 assists. Faceoffs have been big for Towson on the road as the squad has won 113 of 202 draws (.559 percent) against 47-107 (.439 percent) at home. The Tigers out-score road foes 35-16 in the first quarter this season.

On the Career Charts
Redshirt junior Tyler White has made 304 saves in his Tiger career. That number ranks him tied for 25th 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
Wednesday night's game will be the first time in the Shawn Nadelen Era (2012) that the Tigers play on May 9. It will be the second-latest game on the calendar in that stretch, surpassed only by a First Round game in the 2013 NCAA Tournament at Ohio State (May 12). In the Division I era (1980), Towson is just 0-1 all-time on this date, playing on it for just the second time. The last time Towson played on May 9 was way back in 1985, a 9-3 defeat against 11th-ranked Maryland. 

Defensive Minded Conference (as of May 6)
Paced by Towson's fourth-ranked scoring defense, allowing just 7.47 goals per game, the CAA as a whole has allowed the second-fewest goals among the nation's 11 conferences, surrendering just 819 combined goals this year. Only the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Notre Dame's conference, has given up fewer combined goals (724). Conversely, the Patriot League has combined to give up 1,317 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.

Four Former Tigers on MLL Rosters
Four Towson Tigers have been named to rosters for Major League Lacrosse, with two on the 25-man roster for the Charlotte Hounds while another pair have been tabbed on the practice roster for the New York Lizards. Casey Cittadino '06 and Thomas DeNapoli '14 were selected to the Hounds' 25-man roster while Will Harrington '10 and Andrew Wascavage '13 earned spots on the Lizards' practice roster. The 2015 MLL season kicked off last weekend. Charlotte hosts the Rochester Rattlers while the Lizards welcome the Ohio Machine. Weekly updates on the Tigers' professional players will be available throughout the season on TowsonTigers.com.

#BallSecurity
The Tigers understand how important ball security is. Through games played on May 6, Towson is ranked first among the 69 Division I programs in turnovers per game, committing just 10.35 per game. The Tigers rank first in the CAA in turnovers per game.

Final Non-Conference
Towson played its final non-conference game of the season on March 21, topping host Binghamton 9-8. The Tigers won their sixth non-league win of the year and improved to 6-3 before beginning CAA play at home against UMass. Head coach Shawn Nadelen is 21-15 in regular season non-conference games. 

Local Rivals
The March 7 win at UMBC improved Towson to a 2-1 mark against the Baltimore-area schools. It was the first time since 2006 the Tigers had a winning record against any combination of Johns Hopkins, Loyola and UMBC. Towson topped then-No. 5 Johns Hopkins 7-5 in the season opener, but fell to Loyola 15-11. The win at UMBC Stadium put Towson over .500 against the Baltimore schools for the first time since 2006 when the Tigers beat Loyola (11-10) and No. 13 UMBC (8-7), but fell 11-10 against No. 6 Johns Hopkins.