Opening Faceoff
The Tigers open the 2017 season after one of the best seasons in program history last year. The Tigers racked up 16 wins, but that's in the past now as the 59th edition of Towson University men's lacrosse takes the field. Saturday's game at Mount St. Mary's marks the sixth season with head coach Shawn Nadelen (53-32).

In The National Rankings
Towson finds itself ranked in all three major polls and is the only CAA program in any of the top 20s. The Tigers are tied for 12th in the USILA Coaches' Poll, tied with Albany. Despite neither team playing last week, Towson and Albany flipped spots in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. Towson went from 12th to 13th. The Tigers climbed two spots in the US Lacrosse Magazine Top 20 this week.

The New Look Tigers
After one of the program's best seasons, this year's Tiger squad will have some familiar faces along with newcomers. The offense remains steady with stalwarts Ryan Drenner (33g, 23a) and Joe Seider (35g, 5a) back on attack. Tyler Konen (6g, 9a) and Dylan Kinnear (3g) will look to fill an open spot. The midfielders will look similar as well, welcoming back Mike Lynch (21g, 8a), Jon Mazza (15g, 7a), Tyler Young (8g, 10a) and Brian Bolewicki (9g, 6a). Expect an all-new starting lineup on close defense. CCBC Essex transfer Sid Ewell will make an immediate impact, along with potential linemates junior Calvin Livingston, sophomore Chad Patterson or rookie Gray Bodden. It's been a three-way battle for the goal, with senior Matt Hoy and junior Josh Miller emerging as the top two potential starters. Faceoffs may have a different look as well with sophomore transfer Alex Woodall as the forerunner at the X.

Scouting The Mount
Mount St. Mary's returns to Waldron Family Stadium for the second of a four-game home stand to open 2017. The Mount fell to Towson's CAA rival Delaware 18-5 in the season opener last week. Five different Mountaineers scored while Jack Mangan tacked on a pair of assists for a team-best three points. A trio of Mount players took five shots apiece with Brendan McCarthy and Keaton Mitchell putting three attempts on cage. Matt Vierheller, now a junior goalie, played all 60 minutes for Mount St. Mary's. He made nine saves while surrendering 18 goals. The Mount struggled at the X, as Shawns Milone and Raum combined for eight wins on 26 attempts. Vierheller leads Mount St. Mary's with four groundballs.

Towson-Mount St. Mary's History
It's a quick trip of less than 60 miles from Unitas Stadium to The Mount's Waldron Family Stadium. The Tigers and Mountaineers square off for the 13th time. Towson is 11-1 all-time against The Mount, with the lone loss coming as a forfeit during the 1975 season. Towson is 7-0 against Mount St. Mary's since elevating to Division I prior to the 1980 season while head coach Shawn Nadelen is 5-0. The Tigers have played The Mount every season since the 2011 campaign, with Saturday being the first time in Towson's history the Tigers open a campaign with Mount St. Mary's.

Towson-Mount By the Numbers
All-Time Series Record Towson 11-1
    at Towson Towson 5-1
    at Mount St. Mary's Towson 5-0
    at Neutral Sites n/a
    at Unknown Sites Towson 1-0
First Meeting 1970
Last Meeting Feb. 20, 2016
    #15 Towson 9, Mount St. Mary's 5
Streak Towson +10

Last Time Out vs. Mount St. Mary's
After a deadlocked 1-1 first quarter, #15 Towson's offense came to life, reeling off four straight goals to open the second period. The Mount put away two goals at the end of that half to make it a 5-3 Tiger advantage. But another four goals in the second half for Towson would put the lead out of reach of the visiting Mountaineers as Towson went on to win 9-5. Then a junior, Ryan Drenner had four points on three goals and one assist to lead all Towson point getters. Classmate Mike Lynch tacked on a pair from the midfield as one of three multiple goal scorers for Towson that day. The since-graduated Tyler White stopped eight shots in his second win of the season. Current senior Alec Burckley won eight of his 13 faceoffs, while Zach Goodrich, now a sophomore, got one win on two attempts. 

With a Win Saturday
- Towson would open a season with a victory for a fourth-straight season.
- The Tigers would collect their fifth season-opening victory in the Shawn Nadelen Era (2012), who is 5-1 in openers as the head coach at Towson.
- Nadelen would improve to 4-0 in season-openers when they are played in the state of Maryland.
- The Tigers would get their eighth season-opening win since joining the CAA (2002).
- Towson would earn the program's 450th win all-time since the 1959 campaign.

Lid Lifters
Since taking over the program prior to the 2012 season, head coach Shawn Nadelen is 5-1 in season openers, including victories in each of the last three seasons. Since elevating to Division I prior to the 1980 season, Towson is 18-19 in season openers. All-time since the program's first game, a 7-4 win over the Brown Lacrosse Club in 1959, Towson is 27-31 in the first game of the season.

Crabcakes and Lacrosse
Maryland has long been known as a hotbed for lacrosse talent. With 26 current players from the Old Line State, Towson is certainly reaping the benefits of that. Heading into Saturday's game at Mount St. Mary's, head coach Shawn Nadelen is 33-19 all-time when playing games within Maryland. This season, the Tigers will play eight games in Maryland, including six at Johnny Unitas Stadium. Saturday and March 4 will be the only two games in Maryland in which Towson will not be the home team. Nadelen has a sub-.500 record in a just one season when playing in Maryland, winning four of the nine games in 2012.

50 Nifty
Last season in the CAA Semifinals, head coach Shawn Nadelen picked up the 50th win of his Towson career, eliminating Drexel with a 10-6 win at Unitas Stadium. He became the third coach in program history to hit the 50-win plateau, and became the fastest of the three to gain 50 Division I victories. That game was his 81st contest at the helm. Former head coaches Tony Seaman and Carl Runk needed 88 and 89 games, respectively, to grab 50 Division I wins. However, legendary head coach Carl Runk is the fastest Towson coach to 50 total wins, hitting the mark in 1972 in just 69 total games in the Tigers' Division II Era.

No Oil Changes
During the 2017 regular season, the Tigers won't even need to change the oil on the bus, logging just an estimated 1,093 hours spread over 12 games. In the nonconference season, the Tigers will roll just 278 miles between Mount St. Mary's, Georgetown and UMBC.

Lax Sports Network
This season, the CAA office and the Lax Sports Network signed the Network's first-ever conference deal, picking up a total of 15 games for the CAA Game of the Week. LSN will broadcast 10 men's games and five women's games for the package, which features at least one CAA member. The Tiger men's team will be featured three times as the CAA Game of the Week: March 14 vs. Ohio State, March 25 vs. Denver and April 29 vs. Hofstra. Additional games may be added to the LSN broadcast schedule at a later date.

Challenging Schedule
The adage goes that to be the best, you have to beat the best. This season, the Tigers continue to have a challenging nonconference schedule, with four teams currently ranked in the Feb. 13 USILA Coaches' Poll Top 20. All four of those opponents, No. 9 Loyola, No. 5 Johns Hopkins, No. 20 Ohio State and No. 1 Denver will make the trek to Johnny Unitas Stadium this season.

Tigers Favored in the Preseason
After a highly successful 2016, the lacrosse pundits agree on one thing: The Tigers are the team to beat in the CAA this season. In a preseason poll of the league's head coaches, Towson was the league favorite, garnering 25 points and five of the six first place votes (coaches cannot vote for their own team). Fairfield was second with 21 points and the final first place vote. Hofstra and Drexel had 15 and 11 points, respectively, rounding out the potential field for the CAA Tournament.

Preseason All-America Looks
Three Tigers earned mention in the Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-America conversation, with senior defensive midfielder Jack Adams picking up second team honors. Classmates and fellow Marylanders Ryan Drenner and Joe Seider, both attackmen, earned honorable mention.

Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere
Since taking over the program in 2012, head coach Shawn Nadelen has not shied away from the "anyone, anytime, anywhere" mentality. Under his direction, Towson has won 21 true road games in that time, including a combined 11 in the last two seasons. Nadelen's teams have finished at .500 or better on the road in three of his five seasons at the helm: 5-1 in 2016, 6-3 in 2015 and 5-5 in 2013. In each of those season, the Tigers have won the CAA Tournament and earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament via the league's automatic bid.

Stay East, Young Man
After three trips to the Midwest and beyond last season, two to Columbus, Ohio and one to Denver, Colorado, the Tigers will keep things on the East Coast this regular season. Saturday's game will be the farthest west Towson travels between now and the NCAA Tournament. Second-furthest west: Georgetown next weekend.

Familiar Faces
If the 2017 schedule looks similar to the 2016 edition, it's for one simple reason: All 12 teams on this year's slate are teams the Tigers played at least once last season. With the exception of Denver (March 25), Towson played every 2017 opponent during the 2016 regular season, while also drawing Drexel, Fairfield and Loyola in the postseason.

2017 Captains
This season, the Towson men's lacrosse coaching staff, in conjunction with the student-athletes, named four captains.

Redshirt senior midfielder Brian Bolewicki is a captain for a second-straight season. He is the fourth two-time captain in the Shawn Nadelen Era, joining Thomas DeNapoli (2013, 2014), Greg Cuccinello (2014, 2015) and Ben McCarty (2015, 2016). Seniors shortstick defensive midfielder Jack Adams and attackman Ryan Drenner are captains for the first time in their career. Sophomore defensive midfielder Zach Goodrich was named this year as well, becoming the first sophomore captain in the Nadelen Era.

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 33-5 in games when Towson scores double digits. When Towson's defense limits opponents to single digits, the Tigers are a whopping 48-8 in that same time, including last season's 10-9 win over No. 2 Denver in the NCAA First Round Game. On 30 occasions, the Tigers have scored in double figures while holding opponents to single digits, obviously a 30-0 record.