Opening Draw
Following a nine-day layoff, the Towson women's lacrosse team continues its four-game home stand to begin the 2018 season when it welcomes Big Ten foe Michigan to Johnny Unitas® Stadium on Wednesday. Live video and audio of the game are available on the Towson Sports Network and live stats are available at TowsonTigers.com.
 
Last Time Out
After heavy snow, coupled with a pair of quick power outages, forced the restart of the team's original match-up with Georgetown, Towson rebounded for a 21-13 victory over the Hoyas on February 18. Officials decided to restart Saturday's game from the beginning with the Tigers leading the Hoyas 9-3 with 14:16 left to play. Senior Emily Gillingham finished with a career-high eight points which included a career-high seven goals while freshman Kaitlin Thornton had six points, three goals and three assists, all career highs. Junior Carly Tellekamp also had a hat trick with three goals.
 
Tigers Unanimous Top-10 Selection
For the first time since 2010, Towson is a unanimous top-10 selection as the Tigers are ranked 10th or higher in all three major NCAA women's lacrosse polls, highlighted by the team's No. 10 ranking in the IWLCA Division I Coaches Poll. The Tigers are also ranked at No. 9 in both the US Lacrosse Magazine rankings and Inside Lacrosse Women's Media Poll. Also of note, CAA rival James Madison is at No. 7 in the IWLCA poll, giving the CAA two teams in the top-10 for the first time since 2010. That year, the Dukes finished the year at No. 7 while the Tigers were ranked at No. 8.
 
Scouting Michigan
The Wolverines are 2-3 this season, including 0-2 on the road following Sunday's 11-10 loss at No. 10 Navy. Wednesday will mark the team's second-straight game in the state of Maryland and second of three against a team from The Old Line State this season. In addition to Navy and Towson, Michigan hosts Maryland on March 31. Junior Adriana Pendino is the team's leading scorer this season with 16 points, including a team-high 15 goals. Sophomore Chandler Kirby is second with eight goals and nine points while junior Maddie Klee is Wolverines' leading playmaker with four assists.

Towson-Michigan Series History
Wednesday marks the first-ever meeting between the Tigers and Wolverines. Towson is 20-60-1 all-time against the current members of the Big Ten and 4-9 since the formation of the Big Ten women's lacrosse conference in 2015 to include Maryland, Johns Hopkins and Rutgers. The Tigers knocked off No. 4 Penn State in their season opener, 14-13.
 
LaMonica-Nielsen Connection
Although Towson and Michigan will be meeting for the first time on Wednesday, the two head coaches are very familiar with each other. Both natives of Austraila, Sonia LaMonica and Hannah Nielsen were teammate on the Australian National Team at the FIL World Cup in 2005, 2009 and 2013. In addition, Nielsen was an assistant coach under LaMonica at Towson for two seasons in 2010 and 2011. During that time, the Tigers captured two CAA regular season titles as well as the CAA championship in 2011 when the team set a program record for wins in a season with 16.
 
Thornton Named National Rookie of the Week
Freshman Kaitlin Thornton was voted ILWomen's National Rookie of the Week on February 21 after totaling six points, three goals and three assists, all career highs, in a 21-13 win over Georgetown. She received 36-percent of the fan vote, edging Duke's Charlotte North who had 32-percent of the vote.
 
Gillingham Named CAA Player of the Week
Senior Emily Gillingham was named CAA Co-Player of the Week on February 20, marking the second-straight week a Tiger has earned the honor after junior Natalie Sulmonte received the honor on February 13. It was Gillingham's first career CAA weekly honor after she scored a career-high eight points in a 21-13 win over Georgetown, the most by a Tiger since Samantha Brookhart also had eight last season against Stetson in a 21-5 victory. Gillingham's career-high seven goals were the most by a Tiger since Nikki Marcinik had seven against Drexel on April 12, 2009 in a 17-12 win.
 
Tigers Face Challenging Schedule
Towson currently owns the nation's 18th-toughest strength of schedule according to NCAA.com. Tiger opponents this season boast a record 31-19 for a .620 winning percentage and six are currently ranked in the IWLCA poll. Towson opened the season at home against No. 13 Penn State (February 10) and will play road games at No. 23 Loyola (March 7), No. 1 Stony Brook (March 17), No. 4 Florida (March 21) and No. 20 Johns Hopkins (April 25) before closing out the regular season at home on April 28 against No. 7 James Madison.
 
10 Goals is the Key to #WinTheDay
Since head coach Sonia LaMonica took over in 2011, the number 10 has become a key stat. Under LaMonica, Towson is 66-8 when it scores 10 or more goals, including a mark of 2-0 this year after going 11-3 last year. By comparison, the Tigers are 64-13 when they hold opponents under 10 goals after posting an 8-1 record last season.

February is for Lacrosse
This year marked the seventh-straight season that the Tigers kicked off their schedule in February. Towson played five games in February a year ago and is 15-4 during the month of February under head coach Sonia LaMonica. Dating back to 1979, the Tigers are 18-5 during the second month of the year while last year's season opener on February 4 was the earliest start to a season in program history.
 
LaMonica Nears 100 Wins
Head coach Sonia LaMonica now has 95 career wins, including 87 in eight seasons at Towson. After spending the 2010 season at Mount St. Mary's, she owns a record of 87-48 at Towson for a .644 winning percentage.
 
Milestone Watch
Several players are approaching career milestones, led by senior Kaitlyn Montalbano who currently sits at 99 goals, 49 assists and 149 points. In addition, junior Carly Tellekamp has totaled 94 points while senior Emily Gillingham has scored 89 goals.
 
Beat the Streak
Heading into the Michigan game, three players are carrying some impressive scoring streaks with them. Junior Natalie Sulmonte has scored a point in 33 consecutive games dating back to the 2016 season while senior Emily Gillingham and junior Carly Tellekamp have each scored a goal in 10 consecutive contests.

Historic Win Over Penn State
Junior Natalie Sulmonte totaled six points with three goals and three assists and a defensive stop by sophomore Sami Chenoweth in the final seconds preserved a 14-13 victory over No. 4 Penn State last Saturday at Unitas Stadium. Towson posted its first win in nine all-time meetings against the Nittany Lions and posted the program's first win over a top five team.

Towson to Host 2021 FIL World Cup
The Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) announced that US Lacrosse will host the 2021 FIL Women's World Cup from July 7-17, 2021 and the event will be held at Towson's Unitas Stadium. The Women's World Cup is the major international championship for women's lacrosse and features the top female lacrosse players in the world, representing up to 30 countries. The Women's World Cup started in 1982 as an international lacrosse tournament conducted every four years.

Molster Named to Team England
Towson assistant coach Michael Molster has been appointed as an assistant coach for the England Senior Women's Team for the 2021 FIL World Cup. He also served as an assistant coach with England Women's U19 team which won bronze at the 2015 World Championships.

Who's Next?
The Tigers conclude their four-game home stand to open the 2018 season on Saturday when they welcome Oregon to Unitas Stadium. Last year, Towson won the second-ever meeting between the two schools and first since 2012, 10-7. Carly Tellekamp scored twice while Emilly Gillingham had one goal and one assist and Kaitlyn Montalbano had one goal and one assist.