TOWSON, Md. – It's a weekend away for the Towson University field hockey team as the Tigers travel to face William & Mary on Friday night and Richmond on Sunday afternoon.
Last Time Out
Towson is coming off a tough 5-2 loss to Northeastern on the road. Senior
Katie McNeel scored the first Tiger goal while freshman
Gretchen Alderfer tallied her first collegiate goal in the final 90 seconds. The Huskies saw four different players score on their way to victory.
Scouting the Tigers
As the 2018 season hits the midway point, several players are settling into their roles. Last year McNeel led the offense with six goals and is on her way to passing that with five at the moment. Alderfer and fellow freshman
Kasey Bubel have scored their first collegiate points. Another rookie,
Mackenzie Peacock, is getting comfortable in the net, with a .600 save percentage and ranks 25th nationally in saves per game. The Tigers began conference play last Friday against Hofstra at home, falling 3-1.
The Series: William & Mary Leads 21-3
Friday will be the 25th meeting between Towson and the Tribe. Last October the Tigers hosted then-No. 18 William & Mary and fell 3-1. McNeel scored the lone goal, tying the game 1-1 in the opening minutes of the second period. The Tribe would go on to score two more goals in the final 19 minutes and hold off Towson's offense as the last two shots for the home team were taken with 13 minutes left.
Scouting the Tribe
William & Mary is currently first in the Colonial Athletic Association with wins over Hofstra and Northeastern last weekend. Entering the weekend 5-4 overall, the Tribe has also defeated Lafayette, Brown and VCU. Leading the offense is redshirt-senior Estelle Hughes with eight goals and three assists. William & Mary has two goalies splitting time, Kimi Jones and Morgan Connor, who have a total save percentage of .653 and have allowed 21 goals this season compared to their offense's 26 goals scored.
The Series: Richmond Leads 15-3
A matchup that has not happened in eight years, the Richmond Spiders hold a 15-3 series lead against Towson. Richmond hosted the Tigers in 2006 and came out with a win before Towson took the 2007 victory followed by a Spider win in 2010. From 1997 to 2007 Richmond had a seven-game winning streak against the Tigers, broken by the '07 win for the Black and Gold.
Scouting the Spiders
The Spiders enter the weekend with a 3-8 record and will face UMass on Friday before Towson comes to town. A 1-1 conference record puts Richmond sixth in the Atlantic 10. Most recently the Spiders fell to James Madison on the road 4-3. Elise Zwicklbauer and Addie Nash are both tied with four goals so far this season while Olivia Hubert is leading the team in assists with four. The team is averaging 1.7 goals per game but allowing an average of 3.3 goals to be scored by opponents. Redshirt-junior Emily Braunewell is Richmond's goalkeeper, having started and played in all 11 games, with a .686 save percentage.
Partial A10 Member
This season the Tigers face five teams from the Atlantic 10 conference: VCU, Davidson, Richmond, Saint Joseph's and Lock Haven. Aside from CAA play, the games against A10 opponents dominate the schedule. Towson has three games against MAAC teams and two against Patriot League foes.
Continuing Construction
The new field hockey complex project continues in the South Campus area. After its completion the Tigers will have a state of the art water-based carpet field for practice and competitions. Having the new surface will also allow the opportunity for more home games on the schedule and the possibility of tournaments.
Tigers in Action
Halfway through the 2017 season the Towson field hockey team paired up with The Sports Bra Project which donates new sports bras to girls and young women in school playing sports in their extracurricular activities. After the success of partnering with the organization, head coach
E.A. Jackson teamed up the group with BeMore Athletic League to serve the Baltimore and Greater Baltimore communities through the project. For the remaining home games the team will continue to collect new sports bras at the gate entrance which will stay local to help girls playing sports after school.
The Final Stretch
Including this weekend only eight games remain on the Tigers schedule. Next week Towson will travel to face American on Friday and Georgetown on Sunday. Both games will be played in Washington, D.C.
Watch the Action
Be sure to follow the field hockey's Twitter page @Towson_FH for live in-game updates, and check out the schedule page on TowsonTigers.com for information on streaming and live stats for all games.
