Opening Faceoff
It's a top 20 matchup at Johnny Unitas Stadium this Saturday as the No. 20 Tigers host No. 3 Duke in the first meeting between the programs since the 2013 campaign. Towson is in the midst of its Murderer's Row slate, taking on a top-15 team for a second-straight Saturday.

In The National Rankings
After knocking off No. 13 Ohio State in overtime on Saturday, the Tigers returned to the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll, grabbing the No. 20 spot. Towson received votes in this week's USILA Coaches' Poll. Duke ranked third in both major polls this week. This is the first meeting when both teams are ranked since the 2001 postseason.

The Briefly Home Tigers
After a quick and fruitful trip to Columbus, Ohio, the Tigers return home for one game before jetting off to Denver next weekend. Junior Jon Mazza (14g, 6a) leads the Tigers with 20 points while classmate Timmy Monahan (7g, 5a) and senior Jean-Luc Chetner (5g, 6a) jumped into double-digit points. Towson's offensive numbers may not jump off the page, but the Tigers are versatile as 14 different players have points. Towson has three defensive players with offensive production (Zach Goodrich, Koby Smith, Gray Bodden). After a slow start to 2018, redshirt freshman Shane Brennan has been strong in the goal, making 39 total saves this year, including 16 last weekend at Ohio State, a career-best outing. He lowered his goals against average in the 7-6 overtime win to 10.22. At the X, Towson has one of the top specialists in the country in Alex Woodall. The junior has won 77 of his 119 draws, a 65.7 winning percentage. He leads the Tigers with 45 ground balls while LSM rookie Koby Smith has 19 loose balls, second best on the team.

Scouting the Busy Blue Devils
Duke (6-1) will have a busy weekend, traveling to Johnny Unitas Stadium for a Saturday tilt before traveling to Cleveland State for a Sunday matchup. The Blue Devils' offensive is explosive as Duke has racked up 256 points already. Justin Gutterding (24g, 22a) leads with 46 points. Joe Robertson (19g, 6a) and Brad Smith (12g, 9a) are also in the 20-point club. Duke has rolled out two players at the faceoff X, paced by a 56.2 percentage from Joe Stein (36-64) and a 41.8 winning rate from Brian Smyth (41-98). Danny Fowler has been the go-to in goal, stopping 56.5 percent of opponents' shots on goal. He has a goals against average of 7.69 along with 52 saves in his 312 minutes of action.

Towson-Duke History
A rivalry between the two programs formed back in the mid 1960s and early 1970s, but went dry until the teams met again in 2001 during the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers and Blue Devils meet for the first time since the 2013 regular season. Towson leads the all-time series at 7-2, holding a 1-1 mark in Towson's Division I Era (1980). Saturday's game will be the first meeting between the teams in Towson since the 1972 season. Towson and Duke have not met as ranked opponents since the 2001 NCAA Tournament when the semifinal-bound Tigers eliminated Duke 12-10 on the campus of UMBC in the first round.

Towson-Duke By the Numbers
All-Time Series Record Towson Leads 7-2
at Towson Towson 4-0
at Duke Even 2-2
at Neutral Sites Towson 1-0
at Unknown Sites n/a
First Meeting May 6, 1966 - Towson 14-7
Last Meeting March 16, 2013
#17 Duke 12, Towson 4
Streak Duke +1

Last Time Out vs. Duke | March 16, 2013 | Durham, North Carolina
Four different Tigers potted goals in the last regular season meeting between the programs. Towson got markers from Cory Dobyns, Andrew Hodgson, Justin Mabus and Ben McCarty all scoring. Thomas DeNapoli extended his then-point streak to nine games in a row with an assist to Mabus. Case Matheis got a hat trick for Duke while David Lawson scored twice to lead the Blue Devils. Andrew Wascavage withstood a barrage of 43 Blue Devil shots, turning aside 14 in his 60 minutes of work. 

With a Win Saturday Towson Would...
- Win its third-straight game.
- Improve to 3-1 at Johnny Unitas Stadium this season.
- Knock off a ranked opponent for a second-straight game after besting No. 13 Ohio State 7-6 in overtime last weekend.
- Beat an opponent in the ACC for a second-straight meeting after beating No. 2 Syracuse 10-7 last season.
- Snap a seven-game slide against teams ranked third in the USILA Coaches' Poll.
- Get its first win over a third-ranked foe since a 14-13 triple OT win over Princeton during the 1991 NCAA Tournament.
- Run its series record to 8-2 all-time against the Blue Devils, improving to 2-1 in the Tigers' Division I Era (1980).

Careers Versus Duke
With the last meeting between the teams coming back in 2013, no current members of the program have suited up in the Black & Gold against Duke. However, redshirt senior Jean-Luc Chetner has playing experience against Duke, logging two points on one goal and one assist against then-No. 9 Duke in a 12-10 win for Richmond during the 2016 campaign. Likewise, junior Alex Woodall has played against Duke, suffering a 17-6 loss with High Point University in 2016. Woodall won five of his 12 faceoff opportunities.

On this Date: March 17
Towson has had some luck of the Irish when playing on St. Patrick's Day. The Tigers are 4-4 overall on March 17, holding a 2-3 mark on this date when playing at home. Head coach Shawn Nadelen has a split mark of 1-1 when guiding the Tigers on March 17. The last time Towson played on this date was during the 2015 season, 7-6 loss to No. 17 Ohio State as the Tigers were ranked 16th. Towson got its first March 17 win under Nadelen during his rookie season at the helm, topping Stony Brook 10-9 on Long Island.

How to Say It: TOWSON
TOWSON is pronounced TOW like towel + Son. 

IT IS NOT: TOE-son, Townson, Towsond, Townsend, Townsen, Towzen. One N, no Z.

We are Towson University, no longer Towson State University (and haven't been since July 1, 1997).

Our mascot is Doc The Tiger, named after Donald "Doc" Minnegan, long-time soccer coach and athletics department administrator. Towson became the "Tigers" in 1962 after John Schuerholz (yes, the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame General Manager) pushed for the name change from the "Towson College Knights".

All-Time vs. No. 3
Since elevating to Division I for the 1980 season, Towson is 1-0 all-time against teams ranked third in the most recent USILA Coaches' Poll. The Tigers are looking to snap a seven-game slide against foes ranked third. Towson is hunting its first win over a third-ranked opponent since besting No. 3 Princeton 14-13 in triple overtime during the 1991 NCAA Tournament. Towson's last game against a program ranked third came on May 12, 2013 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Ohio State. Towson will play its first regular season game against No. 3 since dropping a 12-8 decision to No. 3 Maryland on March 8, 2003.

Nadelen vs. The Top 5
To be the best, you have to square up against the best. Head Coach Shawn Nadelen has never shied away from playing the best programs in the country, taking on teams ranked in the Top 20 of the USILA Coaches' Poll on 43 previous ocassions. Saturday's game will be the 44th time Nadelen leads the Tigers into a game against a top 20 program and will be the 13th game against a top five foe. Since taking over the program in 2012, Nadelen is 4-8 against top five schools, including a 1-2 mark at home. The win was one all Towson fans will remember as the unranked Tigers knocked off No. 5 Johns Hopkins 7-5 in the 2015 season opener. Saturday's game will be the first top five showdown at Johnny Unitas Stadium since.

Unlucky 14
Forget 13 being an unlucky number, this season it's the No. 14 teams should be leery of. Through Wednesday's game between North Carolina and Richmond, the team ranked 14th in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll has dropped its contest that week, moving the No. 14 ranking to a 1-4 record as the Spiders topped the No. 14 Tar Heels 11-10. Towson jumped on that winning streak for the non-14s, besting No. 14 Ohio State 7-6 in overtime last Saturday.

Another Rookie of the Week
For a second time this season, a Towson Tiger was tapped as the CAA Rookie of the Week as redshirt freshman Shane Brennan was selected on Monday afternoon. He joined true freshman Phil Wies with the weekly honor after Brennan turned aside 16 shots in a 7-6 win at No. 13/No. 14 Ohio State on Saturday. The 16 saves reset Brennan's career-best, topping his mark of 14 set earlier this year at No. 9 Loyola. 

A program known to develop talent with only a handful of freshmen seeing significant minutes, the last time Towson had a pair of CAA Rookies of the Week was during the 2014 season as Joe Seider and Ryan Drenner earned honors.

Double the Honors
After earning CAA Rookie of the Week plaudits, Shane Brennan earned more weekly honors as he was selected as the US Lacrosse Player of the Week following Saturday's 7-6 overtime win at No. 13/No. 14 Ohio State.

Welcome to the Program, Chinny!
In advance of Saturday's game, the Tigers will add one more member to the program as Chinny Hackley signs an "NLI" and becomes an honorary member of the Towson University men's lacrosse team. The 10 year old brain cancer survivor elected to take a trip to Johnny Unitas Stadium with his grandparents as part of a family tradition. Chinny will be with the program all day sporting his jersey number, 30, on the sidelines with the Tigers.

One and Done
Since head coach Shawn Nadelen took over the program in 2012, the Tigers have found themselves in plenty of tight contests. Saturday's game at No. 13/No. 14 Ohio State marked the 28th time Towson was involved in a one-goal game. And the Tigers have flexed their clutch muscles in those games, improving to 20-8 in games decided by one goal thanks to a 7-6 overtime win. In overtime games, Towson is now 4-3 and has won its last two extra-stanza contests, both coming on the road at Ohio Stadium. 

Tewaaraton Watch List
On Thursday evening, the Tewaaraton Foundation announced its annual watch list, naming 50 male student-athletes from all three division and 50 female student-athletes from all three divisions as players to watch for the coveted player of the year award. 

Towson junior defensive midfielder Zach Goodrich was selected to the Watch List and is one of four CAA members to be named. The two-time captain and Second Team All-American will look to make the cut later this season when the next round of watch listers is announced on March 22.

Bringing a Piece of Home With You
Interstate 70, which traverses nearly the entire United States, makes its humble start of the I-695 loop near Towson University. Despite covering roughly 4,000 miles for its next three games, at Ohio State, home against Duke and at Denver, the Tigers will be a missed shot away from I-70. Over the next three weeks, the farthest Towson will play from I-70, ironically, will be on March 17 at home. It is roughly 20 miles from Unitas Stadium to the start of I-70. This Saturday, Towson will play roughly five miles away from I-70, while playing roughly eight miles from I-70 at Denver's Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium.

EVENly Spread Out
As mentioned in the Rookie of the Week note for Shane Brennan, a Tiger has been named CAA Rookie of the Week 12 times since Towson joined the league. Of those 12, nine have been named Rookie of the Week in even-numbered years. The last Tigers to win CAA Rookie of the Week in an odd-numbered year were Eric Boyle and Cryder DiPietro.

2018 Captains
At the program's annual Face-Off Night, head coach Shawn Nadelen made the announcement of the program's captain trio for the upcoming season: Junior shortstick defensive midfielder Zach Goodrich, a two-time captain, senior midfielder Cole Robertson and senior defensive midfielder Adam Ceribelli.

Conference History
For the first time in CAA history, a midfielder was named CAA Preseason Player of the Year, according to a poll of the league's head coaches. And it was not an offensive midfielder: defensive midfielder Zach Goodrich was selected as the top player in the league. He is just the second non-attackman to be named and second defensive player to earn the honor after former Penn State goalie Austin Kaut was selected.

Youth Movement
Towson will be a young but experienced team this season. At the onset of the 2018 season, there are 21 true freshmen or redshirt freshmen on the roster. That amounts to nearly 40 percent of the roster. Below is a roster breakdown by class

Freshmen: 18 | Redshirt Freshmen: 3
Sophomores: 11 | Redshirt Sophomores: 1
Juniors: 11 | Redshirt Juniors: 2
Seniors: 7 | Redshirt Seniors: 1

No Rest for the Weary
Coming off the success of 2017, the Tigers will take on another challenging schedule in 2018. Of the 20 teams on the USILA Division I Men's Lacrosse Preseason Coaches' Poll, Towson will take on six, including five on the road. Rankings below are based on the Preseason Poll.

Feb. 10 at No. 11 Johns Hopkins | Feb. 28 at No. 13 Loyola | March 10 at No. 8 Ohio State
March 17 vs. No. 2 Duke | March 24 at No. 4 Denver | March 31 at No. 19 Hofstra

And Miles to Go Before I Sleep
Through the first month of the 2018 season, Towson will not have very far to travel. In addition to a pair of home games against Mount St. Mary's (Feb. 17) and Georgetown (Feb. 24), the Tigers will make two quick trips down Charles Street. Between Unitas Stadium, Homewood Field and the Ridley Athletic Complex, Towson will cover just 20 miles in February.

And then March hits. 

Towson host two games in March: UMBC on March 3 and Duke on March 17. In between the games is a plane trip to Columbus to take on Ohio State (March 10), followed by a flight to Denver (March 24) and bus ride to Hofstra (March 31). 

Round trip to the three March road games covers over 4,600 miles. On April 14, Towson will head to Amherst, Massachusetts to face UMass, another 712 miles.

The Neighbors to the North
Towson's roster has three Canadians: fifth-year Richmond Transfer Jean-Luc Chetner (British Columbia), redshirt junior Dylan Kinnear (Alberta) and Brody McLean (Ontario).

Transfer Tigers
It was a busy offseason for the Towson compliance office as the Tigers welcome six transfers to the program this spring. In addition to four in the previous two seasons, the newest crop of Tigers include transfers Timmy Monahan (Maryland), Luke Fromert (Mercer), Jean-Luc Chetner (Richmond), Brody McLean (Stony Brook), Tyler Canto (UMass Lowell) and Spencer Coyle (Navy).

Previous transfers included Sid Ewell (CCBC Essex), Alex Woodall (High Point), Johnny Giuffreda (Loyola) and Dylan Kinnear (Ohio State). 

No Place Like Home
Since taking over the program for the 2012 season, head coach Shawn Nadelen and the Tigers love playing at the friendly confines of Johnny Unitas Stadium. The Tigers are 35-16 all-time at Minnegan Field, including a 2-1 mark this season. In 2016, the Tigers set a program record for home wins, going 11-1 at Unitas Stadium. The Tigers have never suffered a losing mark at home under Nadelen, logging three 4-3 seasons (2012, 2013, 2015) at home. During the 2014 campaign, the Tigers finished with a 6-3 mark at home. 

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 41-7 in games when Towson scores double digits. When Towson's defense limits opponents to single digits, the Tigers are a whopping 60-8 in that same time, including a 7-6 overtime win at No. 13/No. 14 Ohio State. On 37 occasions, the Tigers have scored in double figures while holding opponents to single digits, obviously a 37-0 record.