Opening Faceoff
The nonconference slate is behind the Tigers as Towson begins its defense of the las two CAA Regular Season Championships and looks to run its tournament title streak to an unprecidented fourpeat.

In The National Rankings
The Tigers received votes in both major polls this week after an overtime loss at No. 5 Denver last weekend. The Pride of Hofstra fell out of the USILA Coaches' Poll this week, while remaining in the receiving votes column of the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.

The Conference-Ready Tigers
The nonconference schedule is in the Tigers' rearview mirror and it's nothing but CAA action from now until May. The Tigers met six opponents mentioned in the national polls in the non-league slate. Junior Jon Mazza (16g, 8a) leads a balanced offense with 24 points while classmate Timmy Monahan (9g, 7a) is closing in on the 20-point mark as well. Redshirt senior Jean-Luc Chetner (7g, 7a) is Towson's most balanced scorer as junior Grant Maloof (10g, 1a) is the top threat on the extra-man with four goals. Fifteen Tigers have registered at least one point this season. Last week at Denver, Towson got six goals and one assist off the bench as Dylan Kinnear, Jake McLean and Matt Sovero all registered a career-high two goals. Defensively, junior Zach Goodrich has caused 11 turnovers, including four last weekend. Rookie LSM Koby Smith has forced six turnovers and has snagged a team second-best 22 ground balls. Junior faceoff specialist Alex Woodall has cooled lately, but is still winning at a 58.2 percent rate. Senior Steven Stillwell is a capable backup, winning 59.5 (22-37) percent of his draws. Shane Brennan has made 65 saves, including another 13 at Denver last week.

Scouting the Homestanding Pride
Hofstra opens a three-game homestand to begin league play on Saturday. The Pride enter CAA action with a level 4-4 overall record after a 9-8 loss last Saturday at St. John's. Sophomore Ryan Tierney (14g, 19a) leads the Pride offense with 33 points while Jimmy Yanes (13g, 7a) is second with 20 points. Dylan McIntosh (17g, 1a) and Dylan Alderman (4g, 7a) are the only other Pride players with double-digit points. Jack Concannon has played all but one minute in goal this season, making 75 saves at a 56.0 percent clip. Kyle Gallagher has been the go-to man at the X, winning 57.3 percent of his faceoffs (86-150) and has a team-best 60 ground balls.

Towson-Hofstra History
Towson and Hofstra are longtime rivals, with the series history dating back to 1961, the third year of the Tigers' program. Hofstra leads the all-time series at 26-22, but the Tigers have won four of the last six meetings, all under head coach Shawn Nadelen. Towson has won the last two clashes, both of which sealed the Tigers' status as CAA Regular Season Champions. Saturday's game will be the 21st meeting on Long Island, where Hofstra holds a 14-6 overall record. Towson won its last trip to Shuart Stadium with an 8-7 decision during the 2016 season. Nadelen is 2-1 on the Pride's campus.

Towson-Hofstra By the Numbers
All-Time Series Record Hofstra 26-22
at Towson Towson 13-9
at Hofstra Hofstra 14-6
at Neutral Sites Hofstra 1-0
at Unknown Sites Hofstra 3-2
First Meeting 1961 (Hofstra 14, Towson 1)
Last Meeting April 30, 2016
No. 16 Towson 10, No. 9 Hofstra 8
Streak Towson +2

Last Time Out vs. Hofstra | April 29, 2017 | Towson, Md. | Johnny Unitas Stadium
Towson had a huge day from its starters against Hofstra as the Tigers locked up the 2017 CAA Regular Season title behind a 10-8 win over the Pride. Midfielder Tyler Young potted four goals on four shots as Ryan Drenner had a two-goal, three-assist day. Joe Seider finished with a hat trick while Mike Lynch accounted for the Tigers' 10th goal. Matt Hoy stopped five Pride shots in goal and Alex Woodall won 14 of his 22 faceoffs against a pair of foes.

With a Win Saturday Towson Would...
- Be Towson's seventh-straight CAA opening win. The Tigers are 6-0 in league lidlifters under head coach Shawn Nadelen.
- Be Towson's 60th CAA win since joining the conference prior to the 2002 season.
- Improve Towson to 14-3 all-time in its first CAA game of the year.
- Run Towson's winning streak to three against the Pride, dating back to the 2016 season.

Careers Versus Hofstra
Eleven current members of the Towson University men's lacrosse team have suited up in the Black & Gold against the Pride of Hofstra University. Alex Woodall is the top faceoff specialist against Hofstra, winning 63.6 percent of his chances last season (14-22). Jon Mazza is the only current player with points against the Pride, potting two assists during his rookie season in 2016. Zach Goodrich has three caused turnovers against Hofstra, including a pair last season at Unitas Stadium. No active goalkeepers have seen time against Hofstra.

On this Date: March 31
Saturday's game will be the eighth time in the Tigers' Division I history Towson will play on the final day of March. The Tigers are 5-2 all-time on this date, including a 3-2 record on the road. Head coach Shawn Nadelen is 1-0 on March 31, collecting 10-9 overtime win at Hofstra in his first season (2012). The Tigers are 1-1 on March 31 against the Pride. Towson has not played against Hofstra on march 31 since the aforementioned 10-9 victory. Both meetings against the Pride on March 31 have gone to overtime. Hofstra won 10-9 during the 2006 season.

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".

Class of the CAA
Since joining the CAA for the 2002 season, no program in league history has enjoyed more success than Towson University. The Tigers have racked up 59 total wins in the CAA, two more than rival Hofstra. Below is a list of the current members of the CAA and their win totals in conference games since joining the league. The Tigers have appeared in the conference title game a total of nine times, bringing home the trophy on a league-record six occasions.

Team: Wins (CAA Titles, Last)
Towson: 59 (7, 2017)
Hofstra: 57 (2, 2008)
Drexel: 49 (1, 2014)
Delaware: 31 (3, 2011)
UMass: 20 (1, 2012)
Fairfield: 10 (0)

Midseason All-America First Teamer
In an announcement on Thursday, junior defensive midfielder Zach Goodrich was named to the Inside Lacrosse Midseason Media First Team All-America. He is one of two CAA student-athletes named, joined by this weekend's foe, Jack Concannon, who was the keeper for the second team.

To date, Goodrich has caused 11 turnovers, including a career-best four last weekend at No. 5 Denver. He ranks third on the team with 18 ground balls and has potted a pair of goals, once against Mount St. Mary's and one at No. 13 Ohio State.

How Big is a Tiger?
Not only has the roster size gotten larger this year, but the student-athletes that comprise have gotten bigger as well. Since Shawn Nadelen took over the program in 2012, the Tigers have gotten bigger and heavier. As researched by Media Relations Student Intern Zoë Winslow, below are the average heights (in inches) and weights (in pounds) for the last seven Towson University men's lacrosse teams.
2012: 71.2 / 182.3
2013: 71.4 / 182.3
2014: 71.5 / 182.7
2015: 71.5 / 184.2
2016: 71.4 / 183.9
2017: 72.0 / 187.9
2018: 72.0 / 187.2

Going Down!
After a trip out West, the Towson Tigers come back down from the Mile High City. Last week's estimated game-venue elevation was 5,338 feet at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. This week, the Tigers will play a mere 74 feet above sea level at Shuart Stadium.

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 March 12. 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 March 10. 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 the March 3 game against UMBC, the Tigers added 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 some tight contests. Saturday's game at No. 5 Denver marked the 29th time Towson was involved in a one-goal game. And the Tigers have flexed their clutch muscles in those games, sitting at 20-9 in games decided by one goal after an 11-10 overtime loss. In overtime games, Towson is now 4-4 and has won two of its last three extra-stanza contests, both wins coming on the road at Ohio Stadium.

Tewaaraton Watch List
In February, 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 was announced on March 22. Junior attackman Jon Mazza was added to the Watch List as a candidate.

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.

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

In Minto Condition
It was a busy summer for redshirt junior Dylan Kinnear. In addition to the Tigers' run to Championship Weekend and the overseas trip to Ireland, Kinnear suited up in the box for the Okotoks Raiders, Junior A Lacrosse Club.

Kinnear helped lead the Raiders to the Minto Cup Tournament after capturing the Alberta Provence championship. The Calgary native finished his nine games with 25 goals and 20 assists as a transition player.

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 hit.

Towson hosted 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.

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 35-17 all-time at Minnegan Field, including a 2-2 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.