Opening Draw: The No. 17 Towson women's lacrosse team jumps back into Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play this weekend. Towson plays the second game of a four-game road trip when it visits Elon on Sunday, April 10 for a 12 p.m. game. Links to live stats and video can found on the schedule page of TowsonTigers.com. Fans can also follow the Tigers on Twitter (@Towson_WLAX) for updates.
 
Updating the Tigers: Towson is coming off its second victory over a ranked team this season as the Tigers beat then No. 19 Johns Hopkins 9-4 last Saturday. Freshman attacker Carly Tellekamp led the team with a career-high five points while fellow freshman Angie Benson made six saves in goal. Sophomore midfielder Kaitlyn Montalbano has posted a team-high 26 points on 17 goals and a team-best nine assists. Tellekamp has contributed a team-high 19 goals and three assists for 22 points. Seven Tigers have scooped up 10 or more ground balls this season and that group is led by sophomore defender Tianna Wallpher, who has 19. Wallpher also leads the team with 14 caused turnovers. Senior midfielder Breanna Hamm, has pulled down a team-high 18 draw controls. Benson brings a 6.36 goals against average and a .463 save percentage into this weekend's action.
 
Scouting Elon: Elon posted a thrilling 5-4 overtime comeback victory against Delaware on Friday night. Shelby Scanlin scored the game-winning goal in overtime, it was her second tally of the day. Rachel Ramirez finished with 12 saves to earn the win in goal. On the season, Sloane Kessler leads the Phoenix with 36 points having posted 23 goals and 13 assists. Stephanie Asher has 25 goals and two assists for 27 points. Scanlin leads the squad with 21 draw controls after grabbing five against the Blue Hens. Rachel Ramirez has been a force in goal for the Phoenix. Ramirez has a 7.26 goals against average and a .463 save percentage this season. She has also collected a team-high 35 ground balls and a team-best 18 caused turnovers.
 
Towson-Elon Series History: Sunday's game will be just the second all-time between the Tigers and the Phoenix. Elon joined the CAA in time for the 2014-15 season. Last year when the two squads met in Towson, the Tigers claimed a 12-2 victory. Andi Raymond (3g, 1a) and Kaitlyn Montalbano (2g, 2a) led the Tigers with four points each. Nicole Sinacori scored both goals for the Phoenix while Rachel Ramirez made nine saves.
 
All About the Defense: Towson enters play this week tied for the second best scoring defense in the nation. The Tigers are surrendering an average of 6.10 goals per game this season. The Towson defense and freshman goalkeeper Angie Benson have limited opponents to nine goals or less in nine of the 10 games this season. They have held five of those opponents to five goals or less. In addition, the Tigers are limiting their opponents' shot options. The Tigers are 7-0 this season when holding an opponent to 19 shots or less. 
 
I'm Honored: A pair of Tigers were honored as the CAA released its players of the week on Monday. Freshman Angie Benson took home Defensive Player of the Week accolades for her performance against Johns Hopkins. Benson made six saves against the Blue Jays. Her performance in net helped the Tigers hold the Blue Jays scoreless for over 39 minutes mid-game and for the final 12:52 of the contest. It was the second time this season, Benson has been honored by the CAA (rookie of the week-Feb. 16). Freshman attacker Carly Tellekamp took home her fourth CAA Rookie of the Week award on Monday. Tellekamp had a career-high five points in the win over Johns Hopkins. She matched her career-high with four goals on four shots and added an assist. It was Tellekamp's third hat trick of the season. Towson has now had the rookie of the week in six of the eight weeks (Benson-Feb. 16, Tellekamp-Feb. 23, Mar. 8, Mar. 14, Apr. 4 and Natalie Sulmonte-Mar. 28).
 
In the Polls: Coming off the win over then No. 19 Johns Hopkins the Tigers maintained their foothold in the national rankings released on Monday. Towson held its spot in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) poll, coming in at No. 17 for the fourth straight week. The Tigers jumped up to No. 18 in the ILWomen.com  Media poll and after a one week absence returned to the Nike/Lacrosse Magazine poll at No. 19.
 
Just the Way We Drew It up: Senior midfielder Breanna Hamm pulled down three draw controls in last Saturday's contest against Johns Hopkins. That raised her season total to 18 draw controls and her career total to 141 draw controls. Hamm moved into a tie with Stephanie Howell (141, 2001-04) for third place on the career draw controls list at Towson during that game. She needs one more draw to move into sole possession of third place and 27 more to move into a tie for second.
 
Solid Start: Towson sits at 8-2 on the year entering play this weekend. It is the best 10 game start to a season since the 2004 squad also went 8-2. This year's Tiger team is tied with three other teams for the best 10 game start to a season (1980, 1992 and 2004).

Up Next: The Tigers hit the road for a pair of CAA games next weekend. The Tigers will visit Hofstra on Friday night and Drexel on Sunday afternoon.