Opening Faceoff
Saturday's game is the second matchup in a three-game home stand for the Tigers. This is the second three-game home stand for the Tigers this season. Towson went 3-0 at home to begin the year. Towson and Binghamton meet at Unitas Stadium for the first time since the 2006 campaign. Both teams are coming off wins as Towson topped Furman 15-6 last week, while the Bearcats beat Drexel 10-7 in Vestal, N.Y. on Tuesday. The Tigers are unbeaten at home in their last six at Unitas Stadium.

In The National Rankings
Despite winning two games last week, Towson swapped spots with Albany in the Nike Lacrosse/USILA Coaches' Poll, dropping to 11th. Towson held in both the Cascade/Maverik Inside Lacrosse Media Poll (#9) and the Nike Lacrosse/Lacrosse Magazine Top 20 (#10). The Tigers have been ranked the entire season and have not played a home game as an unranked team since the 2015 season opener, a 7-5 win over No. 5 Johns Hopkins.

Updating the 2016 Tigers
Towson's offense continues to confuse opponents as six different Tigers have 12 or more points. Ryan Drenner (13g, 11a) leads the way, with Joe Seider (15g, 3a) closing in on the 20-point mark for a third-straight year. Spencer Parks (10g, 8a) is tied with Seider for second in points, with a surging Ben McCarty (12g, 5a) in fourth. Mike Lynch (7g, 5a) and Tyler Young (6g, 6a) round out the double digits. Towson's dominant defense continued its ways, having held opponents to single figures in seven of the eight games this year. Tyler White has a 6.48 goals against average, while holding a 56.2 save percentage. He has made 63 saves against 233 total shots. After a rough outing at Ohio State, faceoff man Alec Burckley bounced back in a big way on Saturday, winning 14 of his 20 chances against Furman. Backup FOGO Steven Stillwell won two of his four efforts.

Scouting The Bearcats
Four Bearcats are in double figure points, paced by Zach Scaduto (11g, 6a) and Ben Kocis (9g, 7a). Thomas McAndrew (8g, 3a) and Johnny Maher (5g, 5a) round out that group. As a team, Binghamton scores 9.17 goals per game, but allows 10.33 an outing. Tanner Cosens has seen every minute in goal for the Bearcats, holding a 10.31 goals against average, but makes saves just 47.9 percent of the time with 57 saves against 62 goals allowed. Binghamton's top faceoff man is Dan Mazurek with 59 wins in 101 opportunities, a 58.4 winning percentage. He has a team-best 24 groundballs this season.

Towson-Binghamton History
Towson and Binghamton will be meeting for just the third time. The Bearcats stole a 7-6 double overtime victory in Towson in the first meeting back in 2006, while Towson took a 9-8 victory in Vestal, New York a year ago. The Tigers will look to become the first team in the series to win on its home field. Towson is 1-0 against the America East this season, topping UMBC 14-6 on March 5.

Towson-Binghamton By the Numbers
All-Time Series Record    Tied 1-1
    at Towson    Binghamton 1-0
    at Binghamton    Towson 1-0
    at Neutral Sites    n/a
    at Unknown Sites    n/a
First Meeting    March 4, 2016
        Binghamton 7, Towson 6 (2OT)
Last Meeting    March 21, 2015
        #16 Towson 9, Binghamton 8
Streak    Towson +1

Last Time Out vs. Binghamton
On a blustery day in Vestal, New York, the Tigers edged out the Bearcats 9-8 thanks to four goals from the since-graduated Max Siskind, who made his first start of the year. Ryan Drenner added four points as well, hitting for three goals and one assist. Attackmen Joe Seider and Spencer Parks rounded out Towson's scoring with two points each on one goal and one assist. Tyler White made nine stops in his 60 minutes. The Tiger defense limited Binghamton to just 29 total shots, 17 of which were on frame. Alec Burckley went 9-for-16 at the X, while Bearcat FOGO Daniel Mazurek won six of his 15 chances. Towson took two penalties for a minute and a half, keeping the Bearcat EMO unit without a goal. Parks scored the game's only man-up goal in the first period on a 30-second chance. 

Careers Against Binghamton
Last season's game was the only chance current Tigers have had to play against Binghamton. Fifteen Tigers saw the field last season, including six starters. Ryan Drenner is the active points leader with three goals and one assist, while Joe Seider and Spencer Parks each scored and had an assist. Tyler Konen and Ben McCarty each have two career assists against Binghamton. Alec Burckley is 9-for-16 lifetime against the Bearcats. Tyler White made nine saves last season.

At Home as a Top-10
Last Saturday, Towson played its first game at Johnny Unitas ® Stadium as a top-10 program for the first time since May 14, 2005 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against No. 5 Cornell. The Big Red won that game 12-11, but the Tigers have won more games at home as a top-10 team. Towson is now 25-18 at home as a top-10 team, dating back to the 1980 season when Towson elevated to Division I. Prior to last weekend's 15-6 win over Furman, Towson's last home win as a top-10 team came on April 24, 2004 as the 10th-ranked Tigers topped Drexel 13-8.

It's a Pretty Darn Good Defense
This season, Towson has allowed just 57 goals through the first eight games of the season en route to a 7-1 record, the program's best start since the same record back in 1992. Those 57 goals allowed are the fewest by any Towson team through eight games since the program elevated to Division I for the 1980 campaign. Last season's defense allowed just 58 goals through the first eight games, holding a 5-3 mark. The 2015 and 2016 defenses are the only two in the program's Division I history to hold opponents under 60 goals through eight games.

The Offense is Clicking Too
Coupled with a stonewall defense, the Tiger offense is playing equally as well. The Tigers have notched 87 goals so far in 2016, averaging 10.88 goals per game. It's the first time since the 2012 season, head coach Shawn Nadelen's first at the helm, that the offense has produced 80+ goals in the first eight games. The last time the Tigers scored 80+ in back-to-back seasons through eight games were the 2003 and 2004 teams, that put up 90 and 95 goals, respectively. 

Striking Early, Striking Quickly
The first quarter has unquestionably belongs to the Tigers in 2016. Towson has out-scored opponents 27-8 in the first 15 minutes of games, while holding a 49-21 edge at halftime. Towson has 19 goals for in the third quarter, allowing 13. The fourth quarter is the only period this season in which the Tigers have been out-scored, allowing 23 while scoring 18 in the final 15 minutes. 

Towson has been deadly efficient in the first five minutes of quarters this season. The Tigers have nine goals in the first five minutes of the first quarter, 10 in the second, 11 in the third and seven in the fourth. Conversely, the defense has been air tight, allowing only three goals in the opening five minutes, four in the third quarter and three in first five of the fourth quarter. The Tigers have not allowed a goal in the first five minutes of the second quarter this season.

Those 37 first-five minute goals have come from a bevy of sources, with 13 different players striking in the first five minutes of periods this season. Ryan Drenner, Ian Kirby and Ben McCarty set the pace with six each. Joe Seider has five while Mike Lynch and Tyler Young have three a pop. Spencer Parks has two while Zach Goodrich, Jon Mazza, Pat Conroy, Brian Bolewicki, Dylan Kinnear and Tyler Konen have one each. Six of Kirby's eight goals have come in the first five minutes of quarters. 

Offensive & Defensive Effciency
As the 2016 season approaches the midway point, Inside Lacrosse, coupled with Lacrosse Film Room, the midseason Offensive and Defensive Efficiency ratings have been released. "It is an iterative process that calculates adjusted efficiencies for each game based on the game's raw efficiency and the opponent's adjusted offensive or defensive efficiency and then calculates the team's adjusted offensive or defensive efficiency by averaging the efficiencies from each of the team's games." Homefield is also taken into account, but not heavily weighed. 

In the Efficiency Rankings, the Tigers sit 17th for both offense and defense. Towson's raw offensive efficiency percentage is 35.39, best in the CAA. Known for its defense, Towson has a 25.06 percent raw defensive efficiency.

Overtime Thriller
On March 15, redshirt freshman Ian Kirby drilled the game-winning shot from just a few yards north of goal-line extended. That rip gave the Tigers their first overtime win since March 22, 2013 in a 7-6 win at Delaware. Since head coach Shawn Nadelen took over time program in 2012, the Tigers are 4-2 in overtime games. The Tigers have made the NCAA Tournament in two of the three previous seasons when Towson is involved in an overtime game.

Seider in the Career Top 10
Junior attackman Joe Seider has ripped off 275 career shots in just two and a half seasons with the program. Seider is now alone in eighth-place all-time with shot attempts. Seider is within striking distance of former teammate Andrew Hodgson, who is seventh all-time with 279 tries. 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 257 career wins, and is sole possession of 10th place all-time. 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.

Tyler White's Career Numbers
It's no secret that Towson's starting goalie, Tewaaraton Watch Lister Tyler White, is one of the best backstops in the country. White has the third-best goals against average (6.48) in the nation, a mark that would better his own single-season record of 7.57 from the 2015 campaign. Over the course of his career, White has built a 27-14 overall record. Since 2002, only Reed Sothoron has won more games, collecting 29 from 2002-2005. White's winning percentage is better at 65.9, edging Sothoron's 64.4 percent (29-16). With goalie minutes available from 1997 to the present, White is among seven goalies with 1,000+ minutes in the rack, logging 2,398. Sothoron played in the most in that span at 2,976, while John Horrigan logged 2,660 from 1998-2001.

In it for the Long Haul - Updated
The Tigers' game at Ohio State was the farthest the Tigers will travel in the 2016 regular season. Towson flew out Monday for Columbus and returned 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 was 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.

Parks Earns Two Weekly Honors
After a seven-point week with four goals and three assists, senior attackman Spencer Parks collected two weekly honors for play between March 14-20. The Fallston, Maryland native was named as the CAA Co-Player of the Week on Monday, while being selected as the USILA/Lids Team Sports Player of the Week. Parks finished with two goals and two assists in the overtime win at Ohio State, including the game-winning helper to Ian Kirby. He put up two goals and one assist against Furman in the March 19 win, a 15-6 decision.

White Wins Three Weekly Awards
After going 2-0 last week and making 19 combined saves, redshirt senior goalie 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. At that point, White and his defense had not allowed an opponent to score double digits this season.

With a Win Saturday
- A win Saturday would give Towson its sixth home win of the 2016 season, tying the most home victories in a season in the Shawn Nadelen era. The Tigers went 6-3 at home in the 2014 campaign. It would mark the first time in Nadelen's career the Tigers go perfect at home in nonconference games, besting the previous high of 5-1 in 2014.
- Towson is looking to go 6-0 at home in nonconference games for the first time in the CAA Era (2002). Towson has not gone perfect at home in nonconference regular season games since 1996 when the Tigers went 2-0 in home non-league games, beating No. 9 Loyola 12-11 in overtime and UMBC 27-15.
- The Tigers would improve to 8-1 on the season, the program's best mark to start the season since 1990 when Towson finished 11-2 after an 8-1 start.
- Guarantee the Tigers a winning season (+.500) for a fourth-straight campaign. It would be Nadelen's fourth winning season in five at the helm. Towson went 7-8 in his first season (2012). The Tigers have not had four-straight winning seasons since 2001-2007, a run of seven winning seasons under head coach Tony Seaman.

Baltimore Top Five Beware
For a second-straight season, the Tigers upended a local team ranked No. 5 in the polls. On March 2, the Tigers topped No. 5 Loyola 10-8 at the Ridley Athletic Complex. In the 2015 season opener at Johnny Unitas Stadium, the Tigers stunned No. 5 Johns Hopkins 7-5, the team's first win over the Blue Jays since 1996.

Surviving Murderer's Row
Towson got through arguably its toughest part of the nonconference schedule with a win on Tuesday. In a five-game stretch, the Tigers faced three nationally-ranked opponents, and a fourth that was receiving votes. Towson went 4-1 in that stretch, beating No. 17 Georgetown (10-7), No. 5 Loyola (10-8), UMBC (14-6) and receiving votes Ohio State (10-9) in overtime. The lone Towson setback in that stretch was at No. 11 Johns Hopkins.

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' lone loss this year is against No. 11 Johns Hopkins. After last week's win over Furman, Towson is 18-11 under head coach Shawn Nadelen when playing as a ranked team.

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. Towson did not 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 had a unique twist: Towson played 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. 

Hodgson on the Move
After being drafted in Major League Lacrosse's Supplemental Draft in the offseason, former Towson standout midfielder Andrew Hodgson was traded on March 3. The Long Islander will have a chance to play his professional lacrosse close to home as he was transferred from the Denver Outlaws to the New York Lizards as part of a three-player, two draft pick trade. Hodgson and Duke defender Luke Duprey were sent to New York for Brody Eastwood, a fourth-round draft pick in the 2017 Collegiate Draft and a seventh-round pick in the 2017 Supplemental Draft. Hodgson, who is an assistant coach at Manhattan College, will have the chance to make his pro debut on April 23 as the Lizards host the Rochester Rattlers at 5 p.m. at Hofstra's Shuart Stadium.

White Named to Tewaaraton Trophy, Presented by Under Armour, Watch List
Redshirt senior goalie Tyler White was one of 50 NCAA Men's Lacrosse student-athletes named to a Watch List for the sports highest honor: The Tewaaraton Trophy, presented by Under Armour. The announcement was made in the evening of Feb. 23. White is one of two CAA players named to the watch list as he was joined by Hofstra's Sam Llinares. The Tigers have had three different players in the Shawn Nadelen era (since 2012) to be named to the Tewaaraton Trophy Watch List. Last season Andrew Hodgson was named while former standout Thomas DeNapoli was named twice (2013, 2014).

White Named Senior CLASS Award Candidate
Redshirt senior goalie Tyler White was one of 20 NCAA Division I student-athletes named to the Senior CLASS Award candidate list, announced Feb. 16. White is one of two CAA players named as candidates, joined by UMass's Kyle Karaska. 

To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. CLASS is an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School ®. 

The 20 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists later in the season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.

Defense + Offense = Success
With a defense as heralded as Towson's, it's not a surprise to followers of the team that the Tigers have lots of success when the offense and defense pair well. Since head coach Shawn Nadelen took over in 2012, the Tigers are 27-5 in games when Towson scores double digits. When Towson's defense limits opponents to single digits, the Tigers are a whopping 41-7 in that same time, including last week's 15-6 win over Furman. On 23 occasions, the Tigers have scored in double figures while holding opponents to single digits, obviously a 23-0 record.