Opening Draw: The Towson women's lacrosse team plays the middle game of a three-game road trip as it travels to UMBC on Wednesday, Feb. 15. Opening draw from UMBC Stadium is set for 4 p.m. Towson's Sports Network's Ben Rosenbaum will have audio coverage of the game. Fans can also follow the Tigers on Twitter (@Towson_WLAX) for updates.

Updating the Tigers: Towson staged a furious second half comeback but it was not enough as No. 7 Penn State claimed the 13-11 victory on Saturday. Senior Samantha Brookhart and junior Kaitlyn Montalbano led the Tigers with three points each in that contest. Brookhart leads a balanced Tiger offense this season with two goals and three assists for five points. Junior Emily Gillingham has tallied a team-high four goals so far. Junior Maddie Tribbe has pulled down a team-high five draw controls while freshman Olivia Conti has a team-best six groundballs. Senior Kelly McQuilkin and freshman Sami Chenoweth are tied for the team lead with six caused turnovers each. Freshman Kiley Keating enters the contest with a 9.18 goals against average and a .448 save percentage.

Scouting UMBC: UMBC is making its season debut when it hosts the Tigers. The Retrievers are coming off a 9-8 campaign in 2016 and earned the fourth seed for the America East Tournament last spring. Carolyn Jamison was a go to player for the Retrievers last spring as she led the team with 61 points on 51 goals and 10 assists. She also contributed 30 groundballs, 21 caused turnovers and 33 draw controls. Sam Nolan added 37 goals and 22 assists for 59 points. Caitlin Miller pulled down a team-high 49 draw controls last spring. Ashley Peacock started all 17 games in goal last year and posted a 10.52 goals against average and a .428 save percentage.

Towson-UMBC Series History: It will be the 44th meeting all-time between Towson and UMBC, whose campuses are separated by just 20 miles. Towson leads the series 36-7 and has won five straight following a 14-4 win last year in Towson. Kaitlyn Montalbano led the Tigers in that contest with four goals and six points while Emily Gillingham had two goals and pulled down a career-high six draw controls.  
 
Don't I Know You? The Tigers and Retrievers will see some familiar faces when they look at the opposing bench during the game. Towson's Tianna Wallpher spent her freshman year at UMBC where she earned a spot on the America East All-Rookie Team. UMBC's Jessica Carder played for the Tigers in 2015.

She Didn't Play Like a Rookie: Freshman defender Sami Chenoweth earned CAA Rookie of the Week accolades on Tuesday for her performance at No. 7 Penn State. After coming off the bench as a sub, Chenoweth was forced into a more prominent role after two yellow cards knocked one of the Tiger starting defenders out of the game. Chenoweth responded by leading the team in groundballs (4) and caused turnovers (3). She was honored for the first time in her career and is the second straight Tiger defender to be honored (Kelly McQuilkin-Feb. 7).

Second Half Explosion: The Tigers exploded and scored the first six goals of the second half on Saturday at Penn State and finished with nine total goals in the second half. It was the most goals scored by the Tigers in a half since they had 11 in the first half at Stetson last year.

Balanced Attack: The Tigers have featured a balanced attack through the first two games this season. Seven Tigers scored at least one goal in the game in each of those contests. At Penn State, senior Samantha Brookhart, sophomore Natalie Sulmonte and juniors Kaitlyn Montalbano and Emily Gillingham each scored two goals. Three other Tigers scored in that game including freshman Shelby Stack, who struck for her first career goal.

Movement in the Polls: Despite suffering a pair of losses to two top 10 teams to open the season, the Tigers saw their spot in the polls rise this week. Towson went up three spots in the Cascade Media Poll, moving from No. 19 in the preseason poll to No. 16 this week. Towson also went up two spots in the Nike/Lax Magazine Poll after starting the season at No. 17, the Tigers checked in at No. 15 this week.

And the streak goes on... A handful of Tigers will carry point streaks into the contest at UMBC. Sophomore Natalie Sulmonte has scored a goal in each of the first two games this season and in 14 straight games dating back to last spring. Junior Kaitlyn Montalbano has a goal in each of the last five games and a point in 12 straight contests. Fellow junior Emily Gillingham has also tallied a goal in five straight games and has a point in nine straight contests. Seniors Samantha Brookhart, Alyssa Ferro and Michaela Duranti along with sophomore Carly Tellekamp have each posted a point in the first two games of the 2017 campaign.

Up Next: Towson is back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 22 as it travels to Georgetown for a 4 p.m. game.