TOWSON, Md. – With the score deadlocked at 3-3 at halftime for a second-straight week, the No. 10/No. 8 Towson men's lacrosse team put together a six-goal fourth quarter to run past Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) rival Drexel en route to an 11-7 victory.
Towson (9-1) continued its home-field dominance, improving to 7-0 at Johnny Unitas ® Stadium in 2016. Behind a career day from faceoff specialist
Alec Burckley, who went 16-of-21 at the X, the Tigers upended Drexel in the regular season for the first time since 2010.
How It Happened- Towson, which has won its last four games, opened with a pair of goals in the first quarter from junior attackman Ryan Drenner and freshman midfielder Jon Mazza. Drexel (4-6, 0-1 CAA) got a tally at the 7:15 mark from Will Manganiello. All three goals in the first period were unassisted.
- In the second quarter, it was Drexel's turn to score twice as Matthew Varian logged back-to-back goals, including an extra-man tally at 10:43, putting Drexel up 3-2. Varian's first goal of the day was just the second goal this year Towson has surrendered in the first five minutes of the second quarter.
- Junior attackman Joe Seider bulleted home the equalizer with 54 seconds left in the first half, with Mike Lynch getting credit for the assist. Like last weekend's 15-6 win over Binghamton, Towson was tied 3-3 at the midway point.
- The Dragons took a two-goal, 5-3 lead early in the third behind goals from Cole Shafer and Manganiello. That two-goal lead equaled the largest deficit for Towson at home this season.
- Thanks to 10-straight faceoff wins from Burckley, Towson's offense went on a six-goal run. Lynch and Spencer Parks notched markers at 5:32 and 1:59 of the third, respectively, to tie the game at 5-5.
- Towson opened the fourth quarter with a four-goal spurt, starting with back-to-back goals from Seider and another two from a pair of Tylers, Young and Konen.
- Drexel broke up the run and ended a drought of nearly 18 minutes as Joe Rainoldi scored his 12th of the year. Towson and Drexel traded goals to end the game as Lynch scored his second with 4:16 left and Konen with 26 seconds left while the shot clock was on. Dragon attackman Marshal King logged the final Drexel marker with 2:31 left in the fourth.
Behind the Numbers- Burckley improved his personal best for faceoffs to 16 in a single game, bettering his mark of 15 set against High Point last season in the NCAA First Four game at Unitas ® Stadium. His 16 wins are the second-most in the Nadelen Era (2012), one short of Ian Mills' mark of 17 against Delaware on March 24, 2012.
- Towson out-groundballed the Dragons 40-24, including 12 in the second and 13 in the third. The Tigers ripped off 46 shots, the third-straight game Towson has taken 40 or more attempts.
- Drexel keeper Jimmy Joe Granito had a busy day, stopping 16 of Towson's 27 shots on goal. Towson's Tyler White, who is a Senior CLASS Award finalist, made five stops, with two in the first and three in the third.
- It was an unchariticaristically sloppy day for Towson, which committed 13 turnovers, but the Dragons had 17 errors, eight of which were caused by Towson players. Longstick midfielders Tyler Mayes and Patrick Conroy combined for five of those caused turnovers.
- Towson improved to 5-0 in CAA openers under head coach Shawn Nadelen, while moving the mark to 12-3 in CAA openers since joining the conference for the 2002 campaign.
- The Tigers are now 7-0 at Unitas ® Stadium, the most home wins by the squad since the 2004 team went 8-2.
- Towson has won its last two games against Drexel, eliminating the Dragons from the 2015 CAA Tournament with an 11-8 win at Fairfield University last April.
Up Next For Towson- After sweeping a three-game home stand, Towson hits the road for its next CAA contest in the Tigers' second-longest road trip of the season.
- Towson heads to Amherst, Massachusetts for a 1 p.m. clash at Garber Field with the Minutemen of UMass, who are currently ranked 19th in the latest polls.
- TowsonTigers.com –
