Opening Faceoff
After playing three of its last four games on the road, the Tigers return home to Johnny Unitas ® Stadium for the final two games of the regular season. It's crunch time for the Tigers as four teams in the CAA are deadlocked at 1-2 in league play and all the institutions have a chance to reach the 2018 CAA Men's Lacrosse Tourament, to be hosted by the regular season champion May 3-5.

In The National Rankings
Neither team was ranked nor mentioned in the polls this week.

The Home-Standing Tigers
Coming into the final two weeks of the regular season, the Tigers will have a chance to defend home turf in those two games and seal a berth in the CAA Tournament. The Tigers' offense has been hot and cold as of late. Towson is red hot at home in league play, averaging 17.0 goals per home CAA game. On the road, Towson averages just 3.5 goals per game. Timmy Monahan (12g, 11a) is a balanced scorer for the Tigers, as is Jean Luc-Chetner (9g, 8a). Grant Maloof (12g, 3a) is the Tigers' leading goal-getter in the midfield and has potted five extra-man chances. Attackman/midfielder Brendan Sunday (12g, 2a) and attacker Phil Wies (6g, 4a) are two more Tigers in double-digit points. After struggling early in the season to hold teams below the 10-goal mark, the Tiger defense has come on strong of late, holding three-straight foes below that threshold. Shane Brennan (9.72) dropped his goals against average below 10.00. He has 96 saves at a 52.7 percent rate. Leading the defensive midfield are Zach Goodrich and Koby Smith, who have 13 and 10 caused turnovers, respectively. Towson is the only program with four players ranked in the CAA's top 10 for caused turnovers per game.

Scouting the Rival Blue Hens
After enduring a five-game slide in the middle of the season, Delaware has split its last four contests. The Blue Hens are coming off a 10-9 win on the road at Hofstra last weekend. Delaware is averaging 10.55 goals per game, paced by Charlie Kitchen (29g, 11a). Dean DiSimmone (21g, 9a) is the only other Blue Hen with 30-plus points. Will Hirschmann (18g, 11a) and Bryce Reid (19g, 2a) are in the 20-point plateau, with the former scoring five man-up goals. Matt DeLuca has played all but 81 seconds in goal this season, making 127 saves and carries a goals against average of 10.38 in his 670 minutes of action. Delaware averages 10.00 goals per road game.

Towson-Delaware History
There is little love lost between two programs separated by an hour's drive. Towson and Delaware will meet for the 59th time since 1961. The Tigers lead the all-time series at 40-18, including a 10-6 win at Delaware Stadium last season. Towson has won five of the last six meetings, but it's a new era between two young head coaches as Shawn Nadelen and Ben DeLuca meet for the first time. In the Tigers' Division I Era (1980), Saturday's game will be just the fourth different combination of head coaches squaring off after the retirement of long-time Delaware head coach Bob Shillinglaw, who coached against Towson's Carl Runk, Tony Seaman and Nadelen.

Towson-Delaware By the Numbers
All-Time Series Record .................... Towson 40-18
at Towson .................................... Towson 19-6
at Delaware...................................Towson 14-7
at Neutral Sites........................................... n/a
at Unknown Sites......................... Towson 7-5
First Meeting ...........................1961 (Delaware 6-3)
Last Meeting ........................................April 15, 2017
#16 Towson 10, Delaware 6
Streak Towson +1

Last Time Out vs. Delaware | April 15, 2017 | Newark, Del. | Delaware Stadium
Tied 5-5 at the end of three quarters, Towson used a 5-1 final frame to secure a 10-6 win on the road at Delaware in mid-April, the final home game for longtime Delaware head coach Bob Shillinglaw. Five different Tigers reeled off goals to open the final quarter. Joe Seider, Mike Lynch and Brian Bolewicki all finished with two goals apiece. Tyler Young was the top Towson feeder with two assists while Ryan Drenner had two points on one goal and one assist. Matt Hoy made eight saves in goal. Charlie Kitchen and Joe Eisele had two goals each as Delaware's entire scoring effort came from its starters.

With a Win Saturday Towson Would...
- Level its CAA record to 2-2 on the season.
- Improve to 4-2 at home and secure a winning record at home for a seventh-straight season, all under head coach Shawn Nadelen.
- Improve to 6-1 against the University of Delaware under head coach Shawn Nadelen.
- Collect its 14th regular season CAA win over the Blue Hens.

On this Date: April 21
Despite being in the heart of the season, the Tigers have only played on April 21 six times in the program's Divison I Era. Tows is 4-2 all-time on this date, including a 1-1 mark at home. The Tigers and Blue Hens have met just once in 58 previous clashes on this date, a 15-7 Towson win during the 1990 season. 

#OwnYourRoar
On Saturday, as part of the Towson University Student-Athlete Advisory Committee's (SAAC) #OwnYourRoar Campaign, various student-athletes will be tabling and helping to spread awareness for mental healthcare.

Student-athletes from the women's lacrosse, men's lacrosse, and softball teams will wear the temporary tattoos on their forearms during the games. Fans can get #OwnYourRoar promotional items from the table that will be at the game. 

The OwnYourRoar campaign is an awareness program for mental health that encourages students and student-athletes to Own Your Roar and advocate for their own mental health.

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".

It's Rare
In his previous 113 games as the head coach of the Towson University men's lacrosse game, Shawn Nadelen has guided the Tigers to a 100 percent goals assisted mark just three times. Last weekend at UMass, the Tigers' four goals were all assisted, adding to the previous two games which came during his rookie head coaching season in 2012. The kicker? All three perfect goals-assisted games have came against UMass. Illuminati confirmed?

More Rarity
If you're looking for consistency, the Towson-Delaware rivalry is the place to look, first and foremost. Since the Tigers and Blue Hens first squared off in 1961, the rivals have met 58 times. Towson and Delaware have met at least once a year, every year, since 1976. Saturday's game will be just the fourth-different head coaching combination in the Tigers' Division I Era (1980) between the programs as Towson's Shawn Nadelen and Delaware's Ben DeLuca meet for the first time. Below is a breakdown of the all-time meetings between the programs' head coaches.

Carl Runk vs. Bob Shillinglaw: 16-3
Tony Seaman vs. Bob Shillinglaw: 10-7
Shawn Nadelen vs. Bob Shillinglaw: 5-1
Shawn Nadelen vs. Ben DeLuca: 0-0

Home Cooking
As the push for the 2018 CAA Men's Lacrosse Championship Tournament continues, the Tigers have some home cooking to look forward to. The Tigers cap the regular season with back-to-back home games at Johnny Unitas ® Stadium, which is a good thing. Since head coach Shawn Nadelen took over the program in 2012, no current member of the CAA has won more home games than the Tigers. With a win Saturday, the Tigers can lock up a winning record at home this season for a seventh-straight year, a feat no other CAA school has managed in that span.

Team: Home Record Since 2012
Towson: 37-18
Hofstra: 34-22
Drexel: 30-17
Fairfield: 30-21
UMass: 27-20
Delaware: 22-31.

Player Notes
One member of the lacrosse program has been suspended indefinitely by head coach Shawn Nadelen for a violation of team rules: junior attackman Jon Mazza. Senior close defenseman Sid Ewell returned from what amounted to a two-game suspension for a violation of team rules.  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
On Wednesday, April 4, 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
The game helmets for the April 7 game against Drexel 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.

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: 50 (1, 2014)
Delaware: 33 (3, 2011)
UMass: 23 (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 15: 10.00 (33)

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.

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 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 61-10 in that same time after an 8-4 loss at UMass. On 38 occasions, the Tigers have scored in double figures while holding opponents to single digits, obviously a 38-0 record.