TOWSON, Md. - This weekend the Towson University field hockey team hits the road for the penultimate weekend of the regular season. The Tigers travel to face Drexel on Friday at 6 p.m. before facing Hofstra on Sunday at noon.
 
Last Time Out
Towson is coming off its third win of the year over Temple on Sunday at home. The Tigers and Owls battled through pouring rain and saw the only score of the day by freshman Georgia Beachley assisted by Beira Ho in the second period. Neither team saw the back of the net in the second half as the home team held on defensively for the win.
 
Scouting the Tigers
The Black and Gold enter the weekend with a 0-2 mark in conference play with two crucial Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) games on the marquee. Following the 1-0 win over Temple on Sunday the Tigers have surpassed the win mark for the last eight years, Towson hasn't won three or more games since the 2011 season. Leading the offense is freshman Georgia Beachley with six goals while fellow rookie Samantha Aljets leads in assists with six. Between the posts is another freshman, Tess Okkerse who has grabbed 90 saves this season.
 
Scouting the Dragons
Drexel enters the weekend 3-11 with a 1-2 mark in CAA play. The Dragons have wins over Bryant, Yale and Hofstra and are coming off a loss to Virginia at home. Leading the offense is Avery Powell with five goals and one assist, Tess Bernheimer leads the team in assists with five. Starting in the net for Drexel is Megan Hadfield with 595 minutes played and 42 saves.
 
The Drexel Series
Friday will be the 38th meeting between these two teams, the Dragons lead the series 25-8-4. In 2018 Drexel came to Towson and left with a 3-2 victory. Both Abigaile Webster and Katie McNeel scored for the Tigers.
 
Scouting the Pride
Hofstra enters the weekend 6-9 overall, 0-3 in conference play and will face No. 12 Delaware on Friday before hosting Towson on Sunday. Madison Warfel is leading the Pride's offense with six goals and five assists for 17 points. Cami Larsson has the team-high seven goals this season. Merlijn van der Vegt is the starting goalkeeper for Hofstra with 83 saves this season and a goals against average of 2.26. Hofstra is currently in last place in the conference standings.
 
The Hofstra Series
Sunday will also be the 38th meeting between Towson and Hofstra. The Pride lead the series 26-10-1 and have won the last seven meetings. In 2011 the Tigers got a 3-0 win over Hofstra at home but have fallen since then each year.
 
Tigers in CAA Stats
With the regular season coming to a close, three members of the team have found themselves in the conference's top-10 rankings for a handful of categories. Rookie Georgia Beachey is currently 10th in the league in goals with six and ninth in game-winning goals with two. Beachley's classmate Samantha Aljets is second in the CAA in assists with six and seventh in shots on goal with 20. Goalkeeper Tess Okkerse is third in saves with 90, second in saves per game with an average of six and is one of six goalies to record a shutout this season.

Looking Ahead
Next weekend the Tigers conclude the regular season at home against James Madison on Friday, Nov. 1 and William & Mary on Sunday, Nov. 3. Both games will be played at the TU Field Hockey Complex with a celebration of Senior Day against JMU and a rescheduled Alumnae Day event against William & Mary. All Towson field hockey games are free admission to attend.

Tigers in the Community
The Towson University athletics department deems community service as one of its highest priorities to give back to the Greater Baltimore area. For the seventh consecutive year, the department exceeded 10,000 hours of community service to the Greater Baltimore region, finishing with 11,162 hours of community service in the 2018-19 academic season. Towson ranked No. 1 nationally for community service and won the 2018 National Championship for Community Service through the Helper Helper NCAA Team Works Competition. Towson had a 97% participation rate, attended 118 community service opportunities and volunteered with 19 organizations. Towson won the 2018 Volunteer of the Year Award from Susan G. Komen of Maryland.