NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Towson University women's lacrosse junior Carly Tellekamp scored three goals, the defense totaled 13 caused turnovers and sophomore Kiley Keating made seven saves as the 10th-ranked Tigers posted a 9-4 victory over Yale Friday evening at Reese Stadium.

With eight wins in its first 10 games, Towson (8-2) is off to the third-best start to a season in school history. Two of the top three have come under head coach Sonia LaMonica, including the best when the team began the 2016 season with a 14-2 record en route to winning the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) championship.

How It Happened

• The Bulldogs (7-4) scored the game's first goal with 24:27 remaining while keeping the Tigers off the board until the 17:40 mark when freshman Kaitlin Thornton scored off an assist from senior Emily Gillingham to tie the game at 1-1.
• The goal sparked a four-goal run for Towson who took the lead for good just 37 seconds later when Tellekamp scored her first of the game off an assist from junior Natalie Sulmonte.
• Gillinigham found the back of the net with 10:02 remaining for her team-leading 28th goal of the season.
• Tellekamp scored again just 1:44 later to put the Tigers in front, 4-1, with 8:18 left in the first half.
• Yale scored back-to-back goals in a span of 52 seconds to pull within one with 4:34 to play.
• Thornton scored her second goal of the game with 11 seconds remaining to give Towson a 5-3 halftime lead.
• Maggie Pizzo opened the second half with a goal just over one minute in on what proved to be Yale's final goal of the game as the Towson defense held the Bulldogs scoreless over the final 28:58. 
• Senior Kaitlyn Montalbano scored off an assist from Sulmonte to push the Tigers' advantage back to two, 6-4, with 26:46 remaining.
• Towson sophomore Coeli Love scored her first career goal off a free position with 14:15 left before Tellekamp completed the hat trick with 8:10 to play off an assist from Thornton.
• Sulmonte added a goal of her own with just 4:11 remaining to provide the final margin of victory.

Inside the Numbers

• LaMonica is the first head coach in program history to start a season with at least eight wins in the first 10 games in two different seasons.
• The best start to a season in school history is 14-2 in 2016 while the second-best is 9-2 which came in 1980 under Maggie Faulkner. The team finished that year with a 13-6 record.
• Gillingham extended her goal scoring streak to 18 games.
• Gillingham ranks ninth in school history with 108 career goals.
• Montalbano, who ranks eighth in program history, now has 114 career goals.
• Montalbano is also ninth in program history with 168 career points.
• Love scored her first career goal in her eighth career game.
• Tellekamp now has 97 career goals. With three more, she will become the third Tiger this season to score her 100th career goal. Montalbano did it against Michigan and Gillingham reached the milestone at Stony Brook.
• Towson is now 8-1 when leading at the halftime this season.
• The Tigers are 4-1 this season when their opponent scores first.
• Towson is now 4-0 when holding its opponent to nine goals or less.
• The Tigers are just the second visiting team out of seven this season to beat Yale on its home field.

Up Next for Towson

• The Tigers open CAA play next Friday, April 6 at Drexel beginning at 6 p.m.
• Montalbano, Sulmonte and Tellekamp each had three goals as the Tigers posted a 14-7 victory over the Dragons at Unitas Stadium a year ago.