Kevin Tellekamp

Maddie Tribbe

Women's Lacrosse 4.5.2018 TowsonTigers.com

No. 10 Tigers Open CAA Play at Drexel on Friday

Opening Draw

The Towson women's lacrosse team opens Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play on Friday when it travels to Philadelphia to take on Drexel at Vidas Field beginning at 6 p.m. Ben Rosenbaum will have the call on the Towson Sports Network and live video and live stats of the game will be available at TowsonTigers.com.

Game Storylines

Friday marks the beginning of Towson's 17th season in the CAA. The team is 10-6 in the CAA openers, including 5-2 under head coach Sonia LaMonica.
The Tigers are opening conference play on the road for the second-straight season after falling at James Madison a year ago, 9-5. Towson is 3-4 when opening CAA play on the road.
Towson is off to the third-best start to a season in school history. The team started 14-2 under head coach Sonia LaMonica in 2016 and 9-2 in 1980 under Maggie Faulkner.
Junior Carly Tellekamp needs just three goals to become the third player this season to reach 100 for her career.
Senior Emily Gillingham has scored a goal in 18 consecutive games.
Towson leads the CAA in caused turnovers per game (12.50), ground balls per game (22.10) and scoring defense (9.00). Sophomore Olivia Conti leads the conference in caused turnovers (2.60) while sophomore Kiley Keating leads the CAA in goals against average (8.88).

A Towson Win Would …

Be the fourth-straight overall and fifth-straight against Drexel.
Tie the second-best start to a season in program history at 9-2.
Improve its record to 11-6 all-time in CAA openers and 6-2 under head coach Sonia LaMonica.
Match the team's number of road wins from all of last season (4-3).
Improve Towson's record to 15-6 on the road since 2016.

Last Time Out

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 road win over Yale at Reese Stadium.
Towson held the Bulldogs scoreless over the final 28:58 while scoring the game's final four goals.
Sophomore Coeli Love scored her first career goal in her eighth career game.
With one goal, senior Emily Gillingham extended her goal scoring streak to 18 games.
Gillingham moved into ninth place in school history with 108 career goals.
Junior Natalie Sulmonte (1g, 2a) and freshman Kaitlin Thornton (2g, 1a) each totaled three points.

Scouting Drexel

The Dragons have won two of their last three after starting the season 1-6. They have scored at least 10 goals in each of their last three games, including a season-high 16 against Monmouth and 15 at East Carolina.
Colleen Grady leads the team with 25 goals, 16 assists and 41 points. Karson Harris is second on the team with 21 goals, a team-high 14 of which have come on free positions. She also leads the team with 20 ground balls and is second with 33 draw controls.
Maggie Stetson leads the team with 34 draw controls while Rachel Warden leads the team with 13 draw controls.

Zoe Bennett has started all 10 games in goal where she has totaled a 15.13 goals against average and 93 saves for a .399 saves percentage.

Towson-Drexel Series History

The Tigers lead the all-time series with the Dragons, 34-3. They have won four-straight in the series, including last year's 14-7 victory at Unitas Stadium.
Towson also won the last meeting at Vitas Field, 13-6, on Apr. 17, 2016.
Drexel's last win in the series came exactly four years to the date, 9-8, at Vidas Field on Apr. 6, 2014.

Last Meeting: Towson 14, Drexel 7 (Apr. 23, 2017)

Kaitlyn Montalbano, Natalie Sulmonte and Carly Tellekamp each had three goals as the Tigers posted a 14-7 victory over the Dragons at Unitas Stadium.
With the win, Towson clinched a spot and the number two seed in the 2017 CAA tournament.
The Tigers jumped out to a 5-0 lead and held Drexel scoreless until the 9:08 mark of the first half.
Towson led 7-4 at the half.
The Tigers won 16 of 23 draw controls and forced 20 turnovers with nine Tigers registering at least one.

Keeping it 100

The number 100 has been a constant storyline for the Tigers this season. Towson is on the verge of having a third player score her 100th career goal this season.
Junior Carly Tellekamp is just three goals shy of joining seniors Kaitlyn Montalbano and Emily Gillingham in scoring her 100th career goal. Montalbano did it against Michigan while Gillingham reached the milestone at Stony Brook.
In addition, head coach Sonia LaMonica reached her 100th career win with a 15-10 victory over Oregon on March 26. She is also just seven wins shy of reaching 100 wins in eight seasons at Towson.

Tigers Ranked Among Nation's Best

Towson has been ranked in the last 33 consecutive IWLCA Division I Coaches Polls dating back to Feb. 29, 2016. During that time, the Tigers have climbed as high as No. 10 on four occasions.
Towson also climbed as high as No. 6 in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll on Mar. 26, 2018 and No. 8 in the U.S. Lacrosse Magazine rankings on Mar. 5, 2018.
The team's ranking at No. 6 by Inside Lacrosse represents the team's highest-ever ranking. The Tiger's previous high came on Mar. 29, 2010 when they were at No. 7 in the IWLCA poll.

The Honors Continue to Roll In

Senior Tianna Wallpher was named CAA Defensive Player of the Week on April 2 becoming the third different Tiger to earn the honor this season. She joins sophomores Olivia Conti (Mar. 6) and Kiley Keating (Mar. 26).
A total of five Tigers have been honored by the CAA this season. Freshman Kaitlin Thornton was named CAA Rookie of the Week on March 26 while senior Emily Gillingham (Feb. 20) and junior Natalie Sulmonte (Feb. 13) were both named CAA Player of the Week.

Conti, Sulmonte Named to Tewaarton Award Watch List

Sophomore Olivia Conti and junior Natalie Sulmonte have both been named to the 2018 women's watch list by the Tewaaraton Foundation.
Conti and Stony Brook's Taryn Ohlmiller were the only sophomore's selected to the watch list.
Towson has had at least one player named to the Tewaaraton Award watch list in each of the last two seasons 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.

Four Tigers Selected as Midseason All-Americans

Four Tigers were selected as Division I Midseason All-Americans by Inside Lacrosse. The Tigers' four selections were the most in the CAA, edging the three from James Madison.
Sophomore Olivia Conti was named to the second team and sophomore Sami Chenoweth was named to the third team while junior Natalie Sulmonte and senior Tianna Wallpher were both named honorable mention.
Conti and Wallpher were both selected as Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-Americans.

Tigers Face Challenging Schedule

Towson currently owns the nation's 24th-toughest schedule out of 115 teams according to NCAA.com. The Tigers' 17 opponents this season boast a record of 102-71 for a .590 winning percentage.
To date, the team has played the seventh-toughest schedule in the nation as its 10 previous opponents have a record of 67-33 for a .670 winning percentage.
Seven of Towson's opponents are currently ranked or receiving in the IWLCA Division I Coaches Poll. The Tigers opened the season with back-to-back home games against No. 19 Penn State (Feb. 10) and Georgetown (Feb. 18) before traveling to No. 9 Loyola (Mar. 7), No. 1 Stony Brook (Mar. 17) and No. 6 Florida (Mar. 21). The Tigers close out the regular season with back-to-back games at No. 24 Johns Hopkins on April 25 and at home against No. 4 James Madison on April 28.

It Takes 10 Goals to #WinTheDay

Since head coach Sonia LaMonica took over in 2011, Towson is 70-9 when it scores 10 or more goals, including a mark of 6-1 this year after going 11-3 last year.
By comparison, the Tigers are 67-13 when they hold opponents under 10 goals, including 4-0 this year after posting an 8-1 record last season.

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 the program's first win over a top five team.

Towson to Host National and World Championships

Towson will host the 2021 NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship weekend with the national semifinals on May 28 and the national championship on May 30 at Johnny Unitas® Stadium.
This will be the fifth time the national champion will be decided in Unitas Stadium as Towson played host to the championship in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2014.
In addition, the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) announced that US Lacrosse will host the 2021 FIL Women's World Cup from July 7-17 at 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.

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.

Up Next for Towson

The Tigers return home to host CAA rival Delaware on Sunday at noon.
Towson posted an 8-5 victory over the Blue Hens in Newark last season and a 7-6 overtime win in the last meeting at Unitas Stadium on Mar. 26, 2016.
It will be Youth Lacrosse Day. There will be a face painter and inflatables on the stadium concourse as well as a post-game clinic open to children in kindergarten through eighth grade. The team will then sign autographs following the clinic.

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Players Mentioned

#18 Sami Chenoweth: Def.; 5' 7"; Sophomore

#4 Olivia Conti: Def.; 5' 9"; Sophomore

#45 Emily Gillingham: Mid.; 5' 11"; Senior

#7 Kiley Keating: GK; 5' 4"; Sophomore

#19 Coeli Love: Att./Mid.; 5' 5"; Sophomore

#2 Kaitlyn Montalbano: Mid.; 5' 4"; Senior

#11 Natalie Sulmonte: Att./Mid.; 5' 3"; Junior

#23 Carly Tellekamp: Att.; 6' 2"; Junior

#20 Tianna Wallpher: Def.; 5' 5"; Senior

#24 Kaitlin Thornton: Att.; 5' 7"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#18 Sami Chenoweth
: 5' 7"; Sophomore
: Def.

#4 Olivia Conti
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: Def.

#45 Emily Gillingham
: 5' 11"; Senior
: Mid.

#7 Kiley Keating
: 5' 4"; Sophomore
: GK

#19 Coeli Love
: 5' 5"; Sophomore
: Att./Mid.

#2 Kaitlyn Montalbano
: 5' 4"; Senior
: Mid.

#11 Natalie Sulmonte
: 5' 3"; Junior
: Att./Mid.

#23 Carly Tellekamp
: 6' 2"; Junior
: Att.

#20 Tianna Wallpher
: 5' 5"; Senior
: Def.

#24 Kaitlin Thornton
: 5' 7"; Freshman
: Att.

Towson University Athletics

Scoreboard

No. 10 Tigers Open CAA Play at Drexel on Friday

Players Mentioned

#18 Sami Chenoweth

#4 Olivia Conti

#45 Emily Gillingham

#7 Kiley Keating

#19 Coeli Love

#2 Kaitlyn Montalbano

#11 Natalie Sulmonte

#23 Carly Tellekamp

#20 Tianna Wallpher

#24 Kaitlin Thornton

Players Mentioned

#18 Sami Chenoweth

#4 Olivia Conti

#45 Emily Gillingham

#7 Kiley Keating

#19 Coeli Love

#2 Kaitlyn Montalbano

#11 Natalie Sulmonte

#23 Carly Tellekamp

#20 Tianna Wallpher

#24 Kaitlin Thornton