Opening Faceoff
The Tigers make their final road trip of the 2018 regular season with a trek to the northern-most climes of the CAA as Towson renews its rivalry with UMass. Game time is set for 1 p.m. at Garber Field. Towson will look to cool one of the hottest teams in the country as the Minutemen have reeled off six-straight wins.

In The National Rankings
Despite a 17-9 win over Drexel on Friday, the Tigers remained absent from the polls this week. UMass, however, was mentioned in the receiving votes column of both the USILA Coaches' Media Poll and the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.

The Road-Tested Tigers
Towson is battle tested on the road this year as the Tigers gear up for their fourth trip away from home in their last six games. Towson exploded offensively on Friday night for a season-high 17 goals. Timmy Monahan (11g, 10a) jumped into the 20-point club with three points on Friday, while Grant Maloof (12g, 3a) inched closer with 15 points. Jean-Luc Chetner (8g, 7a) continued his balanced ways as Brendan Sunday (12g, 1a) continued his career-best season with his second hat trick of the year. Rookie Phil Wies (6g, 4a) hit the double-digit mark after a four-point outing Friday night. The Tigers have tweaked their starting defense lately and it has paid dividends, holding its last two foes below 10 goals. Defensive midfielders Zach Goodrich (SSDM) and Koby Smith (LSM) lead with 12 and 10 caused turnovers, respectively. Shane Brennan dropped his season goals against average below 10 (9.93) and has 83 saves after another double-digit effort Friday night. Alex Woodall (101-175) and Steven Stillwell (32-54) continue to be a two-headed beast at the X. Woodall leads with 62 ground balls.

Scouting the Red-Hot Minutemen
UMass is no stranger to lighting the lamp as the Minutemen have racked 129 goals this season. Buddy Carr (25g, 18a) leads with 43 points while Jeff Trainor (19g, 13) and Chris Connolly (18g, 12a) are north of the 30-point mark. Ben Spencer (7g) has been the go-to on the extra-man, scoring five times with the man advantage. A much-improved Noah Rak has been a force at the X for UMass, winning 145 of his 227 draws and a team-best 98 ground balls. UMass has bounced back-and-forth in goal, with Hampton Brannon playing 418 minutes, but Sean Sconone finished out last Friday's game and has 237 minutes. The former has 61 saves while the latter has stopped 58 shots to date.

Towson-UMass History
The series between the Tigers and the Minutemen is a short one, but it is intense. The Tigers lead 9-4, thanks to a 9-4 victory in the 2017 CAA Championship game last year. In two of the last three seasons, the two teams have met in the league title game, with Towson emerging the dogfight as the victor on both occasions. Towson is working a seven-game winning streak over the Minutemen. The Tigers' last loss to UMass came on May 2, 2012 during the CAA Tournament when the Minutemen were the nation's top-ranked team. Since that three-goal game, Towson has out-scored UMass 61-41 and has not allowed double digit goals since.

Towson-UMass By the Numbers
All-Time Series Record ........................Towson 9-4
at Towson ...................................... Towson 5-2
at UMass......................................... Towson 3-2
at Neutral Sites............................. Towson 1-0
at Unknown Sites........................................ n/a
First Meeting ................1963 (UMass 7, Towson 3)
Last Meeting ......................................... May 5, 2017
No. 12 Towson 9, UMass 4
Streak......................................................... Towson +7

Last Time Out vs. UMass | May 6, 2017 | Towson, Md. | Johnny Unitas Stadium
Towson claimed its third-straight CAA Men's Lacrosse Championship with a 9-4 win over visiting UMass. Ryan Drenner led the Tigers with a three-point, two-goal game while Tyler Konen finished with two of the Tigers' three assists. Mike Lynch potted a pair from the midfield. Joe Seider and Tyler Young added goals while UMass scored an own-goal midway through the fourth quarter. Matt Hoy made eight saves en route to the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player honors. Faceoffs were a split affair as Alex Woodall (Towson) and Noah Rak (UMass) split with 8-of-16 each.

With a Win Saturday Towson Would...
- Towson would win back-to-back CAA games for the first time this season.
- Extend its winning streak to eight over the Minutemen. Towson's last loss against UMass came in 2012 in Amherst.
- Collect consecutive wins for the first time since the first two games in March (8-6 vs. UMBC, 7-6 OT at #13 Ohio State).
- Improve to 2-1 in the CAA.
- Win three-straight games in Amherst, Massachusetts for the first time in series history. Towson has won its last two games at Garber Field

On this Date: April 14
April 14 is another date that has been kind to the Tigers since elevating to Division I for the 1980 season. Since then, the Tigers are 8-2 all-time when playing on April 14, including a 2-0 mark on the road. Under head coach Shawn Nadelen, the Tigers are 0-1, with the loss coming at No. 16 Penn State in his rookie coaching season (2012).

How Will They Fare?
Friday night under the lights at Johnny Unitas ® Stadium, the Tigers racked up 17 goals on the Drexel Dragons. It was the most goals scored by the Tigers this season and the most since piling up 18 against Hobart in the first game of the 2016 NCAA Tournament. Under head coach Shawn Nadelen, the Tigers are 5-1 in their next game after scoring at least 15 goals. The lone blemish came earlier this season after topping Mount St. Mary's 15-13 but falling to rv Georgetown 12-10 a week later.

Career Night
Some day, the Towson Tiger student-athletes will go on to have great careers off the field. Friday night, however, was the first of many career outings. After Friday night's 17-goal outburst, seven Tigers set new career highs in various categories (listed on player stat pages). Luke Fromert, Johnny Giuffreda, Grant Maloof, Jake McLean, Matt Sovero and Phil Wies all set new career-bests in three categories while Calvin Livingston set a new career mark in one column.

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".

Player Notes
Two members of the lacrosse program have been suspended indefinitely by head coach Shawn Nadelen for a violation of team rules: junior attackman Jon Mazza and senior close defenseman Sid Ewell. A third student-athlete, redshirt junior Dylan Kinnear, has been removed from the program for a violation of team rules.

Hanging with the Cool Kids
Last Wednesday, the Towson University men's lacrosse team took a quick trip up Charles Street to hangout with some Cool Kids at the Cool Kids Clubhouse on Bellona Road. The Tigers hungout with pediatric cancer patients and their families, playing keep it up with a ballon, teaching basic lacrosse skills, including one brave young man stepping to take some shots (don't worry, it was with tennis balls!) and general fun and games. At the end of the afternoon, the student-athletes, led by freshman Carson Gaeger, taught the Cool Kids the Tigers' fight song, Hail Towson!

For a Good Cause
Friday's game helmets were sold on TowsonTigers.com at $350 per helmet. The proceeds from the sale will benefit the Cool Kids Campaign. The Cool Kids Campaign is devoted to improving the quality of life for pediatric oncology patients and their families by focusing on the academic, social and emotional needs brought on by a cancer diagnosis.

It's Early Yet
The Tigers don't need to hit the panic button on the 2018 CAA schedule just yet after dropping a 9-3 decision at Hofstra in the opening weekend of league play. While it was the first time in the Shawn Nadelen the Tigers dropped their first conference game of the year, Towson has advanced to the CAA Tournament in each of the previous six seasons.

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: 60 (7, 2017)
Hofstra: 58 (2, 2008)
Drexel: 49 (1, 2014)
Delaware: 32 (3, 2011)
UMass: 22 (1, 2012)
Fairfield: 11 (0) 

Peaking at the Right Time
Towson's vaunted defense was slow out of the gates in 2018, allowing 14 goals in the season opener at No. 11 Johns Hopkins. Since then, the Tigers have dropped their goals allowed per game every week (checked on Sundays) except one, and that was only a bump of seven-hundreths.

Date: Goals Allowed per game (NCAA Rank)
Feb. 11: 14.00 (41)
Feb. 18: 13.50 (61)
Feb. 25: 13.00 (60)
March 4: 11.40 (48)
March 11: 10.50 (40)
March 18: 10.43 (38)
March 25: 10.50 (39)
April 2: 10.33 (38)
April 8: 10.20 (38)

April Showers Bring...
...Lots of wins for the Towson Tigers. Since head coach Shawn Nadelen took over the program in 2012, the Tigers have fared well in the Month of April. In the previous six seasons, the Tigers have had four Aprils with at least a .500 record. Only 2012 and 2014 were losing months, each at 1-4. Towson has gone 4-1 in the month of April in each of the last two years. All-time in April under Nadelen, the Tigers are 16-13, including 1-0 in 2018.

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

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. The March 24 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.

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.

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

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 36-17 all-time at Minnegan Field, including a 3-2 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 42-7 in games when Towson scores double digits. When Towson's defense limits opponents to single digits, the Tigers are a whopping 61-9 in that same time, a 17-9 win over Drexel on April 6. On 38 occasions, the Tigers have scored in double figures while holding opponents to single digits, obviously a 38-0 record.