TOWSON, Md. – Sophomore midfielder Kaitlyn Montalbano scored a career-high four goals to lead the Towson University women's lacrosse team to a 14-4 win over UMBC on Wednesday afternoon in Johnny Unitas® Stadium. Montalbano, who finished with a career-high six points, was one of eight players to score as the Tigers ran their win streak to three straight.

THE BASICS
Towson 14, UMBC 4
SECU Arena, Towson, Md.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Freshman attacker Carly Tellekamp, the reigning ILWomen.com National Rookie of the Week, helped the Tigers get off to a quick start in the game. Tellekamp scored two of the game's first three goals as the Tigers took a 2-1 lead with 18:35 to play in the half.
• Tellekamp's second goal was part of a 5-0 run by the home team, which gave the Tigers a 6-1 lead with 5:29 left in the half. The run included two goals and an assist by Montalbano and a free position goal from freshman midfielder Katie Sciandra.
• UMBC briefly halted the Towson run with a goal from Laura Osborne. Osborne's goal made it a 6-2 game with 4:01 left in the stanza.
• Towson capped the first half scoring with a free position goal from redshirt junior midfielder Michelle Gildea. Gildea's goal gave Towson a 7-2 lead at the break.
• Montalbano completed her first career hat trick as she scored the first goal of the second half at 28:42.
• UMBC (0-1) got on the board at 26:38 as Carolyn Jamison fought through traffic and put one in the back of the net.
• Towson then used a 6-0 run to take a commanding 14-3 lead with 12:54 to play. Montalbano tallied her fourth of the day during that stretch and assisted on junior midfielder Samantha Brookhart's first goal of the season. Sophomore midfielder Emily Gillingham struck twice during the run while senior midfielder Breanna Hamm scored her second of the day.
• UMBC scored the final goal of the game as Jamison's second of the day made it a 14-4 final.

QUOTABLE

• "We definitely got better tonight and that's the goal," said Towson Head Coach Sonia LaMonica. "We want to get better each game and we faced a different defensive style tonight. We pushed transition but still have some things to work on. Kaitlyn had a beast of a game and Emily Gillingham was huge on the draw along with others tonight."

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• The Tigers have now won five straight against UMBC.
• Towson improved to 3-0 and matched the 2012 team for the best start under LaMonica.
• Montalbano's four goals and six points were both career-highs. Her two assists tied her career-high. Her six points were the most by a Tiger since Andi Raymond had six points against William & Mary last year.
• In addition to her two goals, Gillingham pulled down a career-high six draw controls in the game. Gillingham's six draw controls were the most by a Tiger since Raymond had seven against Johns Hopkins last year.
• Freshman Angie Benson, the reigning Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Rookie of the Week, made three saves to earn the win in goal. Benson played the first 47:51 in net before giving way to senior Alyssa Saxon. Saxon made one save in the final 12:09. Ashley Peacock made nine saves in the loss for the UMBC.

The Tigers are off until Sunday, Feb. 28 when they travel to Loyola for a 1 p.m. game.