What a performance this past Saturday as the Towson University men's lacrosse team defeated Penn State 12-8 in University Park, Pennsylvania to advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals this Sunday. It will be the second year in a row that the Tigers have gotten to the final 8. It is also the second year in a row that Towson was unseeded and knocked off a seeded opponent.

The Tigers trailed Penn State 4-3 at halftime, even though they were dominating the stat sheet. This has been a trend of late for Shawn Nadelen's crew. At the half, the Tigers outshot Penn State 22-13, won the faceoff battle 5-4, and outgroundballed and created fewer turnovers than the Nittany Lions. The one area Penn State had an edge was saves. Freshman Penn State goalie Colby Kneese had nine saves in the first half. Tiger goalie Matt Hoy had five.

The second half saw the Tigers come back to take a 7-5 lead heading into the fourth quarter. But there was no quit the Nittany Lions. They scored the first two goals of the fourth quarter to tie the game at 7. Then the play that changed the game occurred. With 9:27 left in the game, the Tigers Zach Goodrich got checked across the back of his neck in front of the crease. Penn State was hit with a one minute slashing penalty. Fifteen seconds later, Mike Lynch scored and the Tigers never looked back.

This team may not have been expected to reach the same levels as last year, but they have. When the season began, folks were wondering how long it would take for the Tigers close defense and goalies to gel, or if they ever would. All four spots had to be replaced. We have our answer; this team has now given up single digit goals in eight consecutive games. Last year's team did it 11 straight games. What Coach Nadelen and defensive coordinator Dan Cocchi have done with this defense is tremendous. This team is third in the nation in goals allowed at 7.47 per game.

So now this team, which is playing as well as they have all season, heads to Delaware to take on the No. 2 Orange of Syracuse. The two schools have met 11 times over the years, but they haven't played since 2000. Syracuse has won the last nine matchups. You have to go all the way back to 1973 to find the Tigers' last win, against what were then known as the Orangemen.

Obviously, no one who will be on the field or sidelines for Towson, except for Cocchi, who was a freshman, were around when the two schools last met. But Syracuse head coach John Desko was. Your friendly radio announcer was also there. The two teams will meet at Tubby Raymond Field at Delaware Stadium at noon on Sunday.

The Tigers will be facing a Syracuse team that has played 11 one-goal games this season. Amazingly, they are 9-2 in those games. The Tigers defense will once again be facing a tough offense. Syracuse is 12^th in the nation in goals scored, averaging nearly 12.5 goals per game. A face the Tigers are familiar with leads the Orange in goals, Nick Mariano. The senior transferred from Towson's CAA foe UMass after the 2015 season.

The Orange also have a member of their team with a Towson connection. Danny Varello is a freshman faceoff man for Syracuse. His father, Joe, was a great defensive lineman for the Towson football team in the late '70s.

Not much on the line Sunday, just a trip to Foxborough and Championship Weekend. The Tigers are looking to get back for the first time since 2001.

Hunter Lochte, who was on that Final Four team, will be with me for the broadcast this Sunday. We will be on the air on TowsonTigers.com starting at 11:45 a.m.

Until next week, GO TIGERS!!!