Opening Draw
The Towson women's lacrosse team will be playing in just its second game in the last 17 days when it hits the road for the first time this season on Wednesday. The 10th-ranked Tigers will make the short trip down Charles Street to take on No. 16 Loyola Maryland in a midweek match-up between two top-20 teams. The Towson Sports Network will have a live audio broadcast available while live stats and video links will also be available on TowsonTigers.com.
 
Last Time Out
Senior Kaitlyn Montalbano scored her 100th career goal while sophomore Olivia Conti totaled two goals, six draw controls and four caused turnovers as the Tigers handled Michigan last Wednesday at Unitas Stadium, 14-7. Towson has started the season with three-straight wins for the third time under head coach Sonia LaMonica. The Tigers' best start came in 2016 when they started 6-0 en route to winning the CAA championship and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship. Junior Natalie Sulmonte led the offense with four points on three goals and one assist. Junior Emily Gillingham added three goals and now has a team-leading 12 goals this season.
 
Tigers Unanimous Top-10 Selection
For the second-straight week, Towson is a unanimous top-10 selection in all three major polls. The Tigers are ranked at No. 10 in both the IWLCA Coaches and Inside Lacrosse Media Poll and at No. 8 in the U.S. Lacrosse Magazine rankings. Meanwhile, Loyola jumped up seven spots in the IWLCA poll to No. 16 after a 16-15 road victory over No. 13 Penn State. The Greyhounds also moved up five spots to No. 23 in the Inside Lacrosse rankings and from unranked to No. 19 in the U.S. Lacrosse Magazine poll.
 
Scouting Loyola
The Greyhounds are 1-2 this season following Saturday's 16-15 overtime win at No. 13 Penn State. Wednesday marks the first home game of the 2018 season for Loyola who went 6-5 at Ridley Athletic Complex a year ago. All three of the team's games this season have been decided by three goals or less, with each of the last two coming by just one goal in overtime. Wednesday will also mark the fourth consecutive ranked opponent for the Greyhounds. Freshman Livy Rosenzweig leads the team in scoring with 12 points this season. Senior Frankie Kamely leads the team with nine goals while junior Hannah Powers is the team's top playmaker with seven assists. With double-digit saves in every game this season, junior Kady Glynn is tied for 11th in the nation with 11.33 saves per game.

Towson-Loyola Series History
Wednesday marks the 46th meeting between the Charles Street rivals. The two teams have played every year since 1977 with Loyola holding a 32-13 lead, including a mark of 14-8 at home. However, Towson has won the last two and is 3-1 at Ridley Athletic Complex.
 
Last Meeting: Feb. 26, 2017
A 10-0 run over the first and second halves lifted the No. 17 Towson to a 15-8 win over Loyola at Unitas Stadium. Emily Gillingham led the Tigers with five goals and they won back-to-back games in the series for the first time since 1980. Towson won 17 of 25 draw controls, including the first 10 of the game. Natalie Sulmonte totaled three goals and five draw controls while Tianna Wallpher had four caused turnovers.
 
Tigers Among Statistical Leaders
In the last NCAA statistical rankings, Towson leads the nation in shot percentage, converting on 58.3 percent of its attempts. Harvard is second at 56.5 percentage and Loyola is third at 55.8 percent. In addition, the Tigers are also seventh in free position percentage (57.1), seventh in scoring offense (16.33), seventh in points per game (24.00) and eighth in assists per game (7.67). Defensively, Towson is second in caused turnovers per game (13.67), led the sophomore tandem of Olivia Conti and Sami Chenoweth who are fifth at 3.00 per game.
 
Conti Named CAA Defensive Player of the Week
Sophomore Olivia Conti was named the CAA Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, marking her third CAA weekly honor and second defensive accolade. She was also named CAA Defensive Player of the Week on Mar. 27, 2017 before earning CAA Rookie of the Week honors on Apr. 10, 2017. The Tigers have had three players honored by the conference this season as senior Emily Gillingham was named CAA Player of the Week on February 20, and junior Natalie Sulmonte received the honor on February 13. In the Tigers' lone game last week, Conti totaled six draw controls, five ground balls and four caused turnovers in a 14-7 win over Michigan. She also scored two goals.
 
Conti Named to Tewaarton Award Watch List
Sophomore Olivia Conti was one of the top 50 women's lacrosse players across all three NCAA divisions named to the 2018 Tewaaraton Award women's watch list last Thursday by the Tewaaraton Foundation. Conti and Stony Brook's Taryn Ohlmiller were the only sophomore's selected to the watch list. Towson had a player named to the Tewaaraton Award watch list for the second-straight year after Kaitlyn Montalbano was selected in 2017. Five men's and five women's finalists will be announced on May 10 and invited to the 18th annual Tewaaraton Award Ceremony in Washington, D.C., on May 31.
 
Tigers Face Challenging Schedule
Towson currently owns the nation's 28th-toughest schedule out of 115 teams according to NCAA.com. Tiger opponents this season boast a record 42-30 for a .583 winning percentage and seven are currently ranked in the IWLCA poll. Towson opened the season with back-to-back home games against No. 17 Penn State (Feb. 10) and No. 25 Georgetown (Feb. 18) and play road games at No. 16 Loyola (Mar. 7), No. 1 Stony Brook (Mar. 17), No. 3 Florida (Mar. 21) and No. 23 Johns Hopkins (Apr. 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 67-8 when it scores 10 or more goals, including a mark of 3-0 this year after going 11-3 last year. By comparison, the Tigers are 65-13 when they hold opponents under 10 goals after posting an 8-1 record last season.
 
LaMonica Nears 100 Wins
Head coach Sonia LaMonica now has 96 career wins, including 88 in eight seasons at Towson. After spending the 2010 season at Mount St. Mary's, she owns a record of 88-48 at Towson for a .647 winning percentage.
 
Milestone Watch
After scoring her 100th career goal in last Wednesday's 14-7 win over Michigan, senior Kaitlyn Montalbano now has 149 points with 49 assists. In addition, senior Emily Gillingham has scored 92 career goals while junior Carly Tellekamp has totaled 96 career points.
 
Beat the Streak
Heading into the Loyola game, three players are carrying some impressive scoring streaks with them. Junior Natalie Sulmonte has scored a point in 34 consecutive games dating back to the 2016 season while senior Emily Gillingham and junior Carly Tellekamp have each scored a goal in 11 consecutive contests. The school record for consecutive games with a point is 70 set by Hilary Fratzke from 2006-10. She scored a point in 71 of her 72 career games, in 70-straight to start her career before being held scoreless in the next to last game of her career against Hofstra in the CAA championship game.

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 return home this Saturday to host Coastal Carolina at noon before embarking on a four-game road trip. The game will mark the first-ever meeting between the two schools.