When	Tuesday, March 15
Where	Ohio Stadium (Columbus, Ohio)
Time	7 p.m.
Team Records	No. 6/No. 5 Towson (5-0 Overall) vs. No. 11/No. 14 Johns Hopkins (2-2 Overall)
Big Ten Network	Check Local Listings
	Play-by-Play: Mike Wolf; Color Analyst: Greg Bice
Audio	TowsonSportsNetwork.tv
	Play by Play: Spiro Morekas
Series	Ohio State Leads 5-2
Last Meeting	March 17, 2015 - #17 Ohio State 7, #16 Towson 6 (Unitas Stadium)

Opening Faceoff
Tuesday's game will be Towson's third away from Unitas Stadium this season and the only time in 2016 the Tigers will play back-to-back games. Towson looks to bounce back after suffering its first loss of the year at the hands of No. 11 Johns Hopkins. Towson makes its longest trip of the regular season, going 415 miles from Unitas Stadium to Ohio Stadium.

In The National Rankings
Towson remained in the top 10 in all three major polls this week. The Tigers were No. 9 in this week's Cascade/Maverik Inside Lacrosse Media Poll, while grabbing the No. 10 spot in both the Nike/USILA Coaches Polll and the Nike/Lacrosse Magazine Top 20. Ohio State received votes in all three polls. Towson will be playing its second-straight game as a top-10 team, the first time that has happened since the 2003 postseason.

Updating the 2016 Tigers
The Tigers will be looking to bounce back from their first loss of the 2016 campaign. Towson continues to be paced by Ryan Drenner (10-9-19), with Joe Seider leading the way in goals (12-2-14). Seider has at least one goal in Towson's last 11 games, dating back to last season. Just once in the last year and a half has Seider been held off the board. Redshirt senior Ben McCarty has come on strong the last two games, scoring six goals with two hat tricks. Despite allowing double digits for the first time this season, the Tiger defensive unit is still ranked fifth in the country in scoring defense, allowing just seven goals per game. Redshirt senior goalie Tyler White has the third-best goals against average (6.49) in the country. Faceoff man Alec Burckley has won 55.7 percent of his draws (54-97).

Scouting The Buckeyes
Towson's defense will have to make everyone on the field as Ohio State boasts five players with at least eight goals. Carter Brown (9-4-13) leads in goals as Austin Shanks (8-8-16) has the team lead in points. JT Blubaugh is the top shooter, taking 33 attempts. Eric Fannell is the point man on the EMO with three man-up strikes. Goalie Tom Carey holds his own with a 7.97 goals against average and a 53.0 save percentage. Jake Withers has been strong at the X, winning nearly 60 percent of his chances (79-132). Ohio State takes a lot of penalties, with 19 already on the ledger, but has allowed just six extra-man goals this year.

Towson-Ohio History
Unlike its last three opponents, the Tigers have only played Ohio State seven times before Tuesdays match up. The Buckeyes lead the all-time series at 5-2, winning the last two contests. The teams first met at an unknown location in 1962, a 6-3 Towson victory. The teams squared off three more times in the 1960s, all Ohio State wins. Towson's last win in the series came at home for a 10-8 win on March 20, 2007. The Tigers traveled to Columbus for the first round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament, but fell to No. 3 Ohio State 16-6. The Buckeyes snagged a 7-6 win last season in a top-20 match up at Unitas Stadium.

Towson-Ohio State By the Numbers
All-Time Series Record    Ohio State 5-2
    at Towson    Even 1-1
    at Ohio State    Ohio State 1-0
    at Neutral Sites    n/a
    at Unknown Sites    Ohio State 3-1
First Meeting    1962 - Towson 6, Ohio State 3
Last Meeting    March 17, 2015
        #17 Ohio State 7, #16 Towson 6
Streak    Ohio State +2

Last Time Out vs. Ohio State
It was neck-and-neck the in the first half as the Tigers took a 5-3 lead into the break of a defensive battle. But Towson scored once in the second half on a Ryan Drenner tally, while Ohio State reeled off four-straight to take a 7-6 win in a battle of top-20 teams at Unitas Stadium. Current junior Joe Seider finished with a hat trick while Drenner, Spencer Parks and Jack Adams all scored once. A game-changing moment came in the first half as then-red shirt senior Andrew Hodgson suffered a collegiate career-ending injury to his lower body. Tyler White made a dozen saves for the Tigers. Towson struggled at the X as Alec Burckley went 6-for-15.

Careers Against Ohio State
Tuesday's game will be just the second meeting with current members of the Tiger team against Ohio State, including last season's clash and the First Round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament. Seventeen current Tigers have suited up against Ohio State. Brian Bolewicki, Dan Carder, Pat Conroy, Mike Lowe and Ben McCarty all played at Ohio in the NCAA Tournament in 2013. Joe Seider logged a hat trick in his only meeting last season while Spencer Parks and Jack Adams each tallied a goal.

Seider in the Career Top 10
Junior attackman Joe Seider has ripped off 265 career shots in just two and a half seasons with the program. He is currently tied for 10th all-time in career shots with Paul Mullen, who played for Towson from 1976-78. Seider needs five shots to move into sole possession of ninth, looking to pass Rob Shek's mark of 269. Glenn Smith sits atop the leader board with 458 shots from 1988-91. 

Burckley in the Career Top 10
With his sixth faceoff win against Johns Hopkins University on March 12, junior faceoff man Alec Burckley moved into the program's top-10 career list for faceoff wins. Burckley has 243 career wins, tying with Tom Watson, who won the same number from 1977-1980. Next on the list is Brian Cesarski, who won 274 draws from 1990-93. Towson Hall of Famer Justin Berry holds the career record at 507 from 1998-2001 and is the only player in program history to win more than 500 faceoffs.

Bouncing Back from a Loss
Towson suffered its first loss of the season after its best start at 5-0 since 1992. But the Tigers have fared well after suffering a loss in the Shawn Nadelen era. The Tigers are 13-14 after taking a loss since Nadelen took over the program in 2012, including season-ending losses to season-opening wins the next season. Last season, Towson took back-to-back losses once in the final two games of the regular season. Towson went 4-1 after losses last year and is 5-1 after the last six losses, including the First Round defeat at No. 1 Notre Dame to the 2016 season opening win over Mercer.

Looking for the First One
The Tigers are hunting their first win at Ohio State since moving to the Division I ranks in 1980. The Tigers have met the Buckeyes three times in that span and are 1-2 against Ohio State. Tuesday's game will be the second trip to Columbus since 1980 and first since 2013.

Going Back Home
Junior midfielder Matt Wylly will have a chance to return to his hometown for Tuesday's game. Wylly hails from Columbus and played his high school ball at Worthington Kilbourne High School, located just over eight miles north of Ohio Stadium. Wylly was a high school All-American during his interscholastic career at Worthington Kilbourne.

In it for the Long Haul
Tuesday's game will be the farthest the Tigers travel in the 2016 regular season. Towson flies out Monday for Columbus and returns to Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on Wednesday. Johnny Unitas Stadium, home of the Tigers, sits roughly 415 miles from Ohio Stadium, the site of Tuesday's contest. The trip will be roughly 830 round-trip miles. On April 9, Towson travels 356 miles to Amherst, Massachusetts to take on the Minutemen at Garber Field. The Tigers round out the regular season on April 30 at Shuart Stadium, home of the Hofstra Pride, a trip of 215 miles. Those two April games are the only CAA road trips for Towson this season.

Taking on the Alma Mater
Tuesday's game will be the second-straight game a member of the Towson coaching staff takes on his alma mater. Associate head coach Anthony Gilardi was a two-time All-Great Western Lacrosse League player for Ohio State and makes his second trip to Columbus as a member of the Tiger staff (2013). Head coach Shawn Nadelen coached Towson against his alma mater on Saturday, Johns Hopkins, where he enjoyed an All-American career. Assistant coach Dan Cocchi and volunteer assistant coach Neil Hutchinson both graduated from Towson University. 

You Get a Hat Trick! And You Get a Hat Trick!
So far in 2016, the Tigers have had at least one hat trick in each of the first six games. Spencer Parks and Joe Seider struck three times each in the season opener against Mercer (Feb. 12). Ryan Drenner did it in back-to-back games against Mount St. Mary's (Feb. 20), and with four goals against No. 17 Georgetown (Feb. 27). Joe Seider had four goals against No. 5 Loyola (March 2). Ben McCarty did it most recently with three goals against UMBC (March 5) and at No. 11 Johns Hopkins on March 12.

Not Against Drexel?
Redshirt senior Ben McCarty now has four career hat tricks, including on March 12 when he ripped off three goals against No. 11 Johns Hopkins. He did it in the previous game as well, striking three times against UMBC (March 5). Two of McCarty's career hat tricks have come against Drexel University when the Westminster, Maryland native scored four goals in the 2015 regular season finale at Drexel, along with a six-goal outburst in 2013. 

White Wins Three Weekly Awards
After going 2-0 last week and making 19 combined saves, redshirt senior Tyler White picked up three weekly awards. The big man was named CAA Player of the Week on March 8, followed up by NCAA Defensive Player of the Week on March 9. On Friday, White was named the Baltimore Sun's Player of the Week. White finished his games against No. 5 Loyola and UMBC with a goals against average of 6.67 and stopped 61.3 percent of the shots he faced, limiting the Greyhounds and Retrievers to just eight and four goals, respectively. White and his defense have not allowed an opponent to score double digits this season.

With a Win Tuesday
With a win on Tuesday, Towson would improve to 6-1 in the last two seasons after taking a loss. It would improve head coach Shawn Nadelen's record after a loss to an even 14-14.

A win Tuesday night would split the Tigers' record against the Big Ten Conference in 2016 at 1-1. Towson dropped a 14-6 decision on March 12 at No. 11 Johns Hopkins, an associate member of the conference.

A victory on Tuesday would get Towson's road record back above .500 to 2-1. The Hopkins loss is Towson's lone road blemish this season. Towson topped No. 5 Loyola 10-8 on the road at the Ridley Athletic Complex on March 2.

Snapping the Greyhound Slide
Towson's win over Loyola snapped an eight-game slide for the Tigers in the series. It was Towson's first win over Loyola since the 2007 meeting, which was also held on the Greyhounds' home field.

Tigers on TV
Towson men's lacrosse will appear in back-to-back television games this season, both on the road. The first will be March 12 at Johns Hopkins (2 p.m.) on ESPNU from historic Homewood Field. The other game will be Towson's second-straight Big Ten opponent in Ohio State. The Tigers and Buckeyes will do battle on the Big Ten Network on March 15 from Columbus, Ohio.

Against the Top 20
The Tigers have knocked off two ranked opponents so far in 2016. At home on Feb. 27, the Tigers bested No. 17 Georgetown, followed by a 10-8 win at cross-town rival No. 5 Loyola on March 2. The Tigers are 14-10 under head coach Shawn Nadelen when playing as a ranked team.

Defense Like a Brick Wall
The Tiger defense is one of the best in the country. The Tigers are ranked fifth in total defense (7.00 goals allowed per game). Just once in 2016 have the Tigers allowed 10 or more goals, coming last weekend against No. 11 Johns Hopkins. 

Towson's defense has been dominant at home in the last two years. The Tigers have held their last 10 opponents at Johnny Unitas Stadium to single digits, while doing so in 11 of the last 12 games. Towson is 9-3 at home during that same stretch.

Local Market
This year, Towson has 14 games on its regular season slate. Of those 14 games, nine will be played at Johnny Unitas Stadium. This season, Towson won't have to travel far for two of its five road games as the Tigers traveled down the road to Loyola (March 2) and Johns Hopkins (March 12). However, what the Tigers gain in local games, they make up for in true road games, covering roughly 2,000 miles going to Ohio State (March 15), Massachusetts (April 9) and Hofstra (April 30).

Local Market Part Deux
While it's not uncommon at all for the Tigers to face all three of the local institutions in the same season, this year's edition of the Battle for Greater Baltimore will have a unique twist: Towson will play all three schools in consecutive games. The Tigers went to Loyola on March 2, host UMBC on March 5 and then travel down Charles Street to Johns Hopkins on March 12.