Opening Faceoff
It's a CAA heavyweight battle on Saturday as No. 9/No. 11 Towson hosts rv/No. 19 UMass in a rematch of the 2018 CAA Championship game. Towson looks to exact revenge after falling twice last season to the Minutemen.

In The National Rankings
After picking up its second league win of the season, Towson moved up in all three polls, grabbing the number nine slot in the USILA Coaches' Poll and rankings 11th in both the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll and the US Lacrosse Division I Top 20. UMass received votes in the Coaches' Poll and ranked 19th in the Media Poll.

The Senior-Day Celebrating Tigers
Towson returns to Johnny Unitas ® Stadium for one final game in the regular season and looks to improve on its 3-1 home record. The Tigers' resurgent offense is paced by Brendan Sunday (29-15-44) who is fresh off a five-point outing at Fairfield. Brody McLean (24-4-28) is flirting with the 30-point plateau while Timmy Monahan (14-11-25) and Luke Fromert (16-7-23) are secure at the 20-point level for now. Grant Maloof (13-6-19) is one point from being the fifth Tiger over the 20-point mark this season. Defensively, Towson has held its last three opponents to single digits, going 2-1 in those games. Koby Smith and Gray Bodden have 13 caused turnovers apiece while Chad Patterson has forced 10. In goal, Tyler Canto continued his big-backstop ways, making another 15 saves at Fairfield to bring his season total to 111. He enters with a 10.07 goals against average in his 537 minutes of work. At the X, Alex Woodall has been a force, winning 88 percent of his draws (22-25) at Fairfield with 16 ground balls. For the season, the specialist is 182-242 for a national second-best 75.2 faceoff winning percentage along with a team-best 130 ground balls.

Scouting the Southbound Minutemen
UMass enters Saturday's game with a 7-4 overall record and a 1-1 mark in the CAA after falling 10-9 in overtime at Hofstra last weekend. Chris Connolly (20-26-46) leads an offense that averages 12.45 goals per game. Gabriel Procyk (27-4-31) leads in goals and is second in points followed by Jeff Trainor (16-12-28) and Kevin Tobin (14-13-27). The Minutemen boast a stout defense that allows just 8.27 goals per game, led by reigning CAA Player of the Year Isaac Paparo, who has caused 25 turnovers to date. UMass will push transition as well, clearing at an 87.0 percent rate and aided by goalkeeper Sean Sconone. The keeper has made 135 saves at a 61.6 percent clip and enters Saturday with a 7.91 goals against average. At the X, Tom Meyers leads with a 64.7 percent win rate (156-241) and 92 ground balls. 

Towson-UMass History
The series history between Towson and UMass isn't a long one; the programs first met as Division I teams in 2010 as UMass joined the CAA. It's certainly an intense league rivalry though. Towson leads the series 9-6, but the Minutemen have won the last two games, including last season's CAA Championship. Towson reeled off seven-straight wins over UMass prior to last year. The teams are familiar foes in the postseason as well, meeting five times in the league playoffs, including each of the last two CAA Championship games. 

Towson-UMass By the Numbers
All-Time Series Record Towson 9-6
at Towson  Towson 5-2
at UMass UMass 4-3
at Neutral Sites Towson 1-0
at Unknown Sites n/a
First Meeting 1963 (UMass 7, Towson 3)
Last Meeting  May 5, 2018 
#16/#16 UMass 12, Towson 8
Streak UMass +2

Last Time Out vs. No. 16 UMass | May 5, 2018 | Amherst, Massachusetts | Garber Field
After Towson reached the CAA Championship for a fourth-straight year, the title was up for grabs in a rematch of the 2017 title game. Unfortunately for Towson, a late UMass surge dashed the Tigers' hopes for the league AQ to the NCAA Tournament with a 12-8 loss. Grant Maloof and Johnny Giuffreda led the Tigers with two goals apiece while Jean-Luc Chetner finished with four points on three assists and one goal. Alex Woodall went 14-of-23 at the X while Shane Brennan made six saves. Chris Connolly led UMass with six points on three goals and three helpers. Jeff Trainor added four points on a split of goals and assists.

With a Win Saturday Towson Would...
- Improve to 10-6 all-time against UMass, moving to 6-2 against the Minutemen at Johnny Unitas ® Stadium.
- Improve to 3-0 in league play for the first time since starting out 3-0 in 2017.
- Cap the regular season with a 4-1 home record.
- Give Towson its 66th win all-time in CAA games, the most for any program in the league.
- Hand Shawn Nadelen the 80th win of his career.
- Improve Towson to 8-4 over the Minutemen in Nadelen's tenure.

Come See Us!
Through last weekend's games, the Tigers rank fourth in Division I in terms of average attendance, with over 1,900 guests per game, an average that ranks sixth in the country. Towson's cumulative home attendance this season has been 7,724, which ranks 13th in Division I, with only four games played at Johnny Unitas ® Stadium to date. This season, nearly 15,300 souls have seen the Black & Gold take the field, including home games, road contests and a pair of neutral-site tilts.

One of the Active Greats
Senior faceoff specialist Alex Woodall currently ranks second among active NCAA Division I lacrosse players with 650 career faceoff wins. He trails only Yale's TD Ierlan (863). Woodall surpassed Justin Berry for the program's all-time career faceoff wins in the Tigers' win over Hofstra, winning the 508th of his Black & Gold career. Berry and Woodall are the only players in program history to win at least 500 career faceoffs. Woodall has a chance at the program's single-season faceoff wins mark of 257, set by Justin Berry in 2001.

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".

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 65 total wins in the CAA, five 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 10 times, bringing home the trophy on a league-record seven occasions.

Team: Wins (CAA Titles, Last)
Towson: 65 (7, 2017)
Hofstra: 60 (2, 2008)
Drexel: 50 (1, 2014)
Delaware: 37 (3, 2011)
UMass: 27 (1, 2012)
Fairfield: 11 (0)

Turnovers: Great for Dessert, Not for Lacrosse
It's really tough to score without the ball. Unfortunately for the Tigers this season, turnovers have been an issue. Towson cleaned up its ball control in the first three quarters against Hofstra, but eight miscues in the fourth quarter allowed the Pride to creep back into the game.

Since Towson came under the guidance of head coach Shawn Nadelen in 2012, Towson is 76-41 when turning the ball over fewer than 20 times, but sit at 3-7 in that span when finishing with at least 20 turnovers. Towson is 6-0 this year with fewer than 20 turnovers, but 1-3 on the year when turning it over more than 20 times.

Watch Me Now
The Tewaaraton Foundation announced its first round of additions to its watch list for the prestigious Tewaaraton Award. Two Tigers were added to the list and served as the only additional student-athletes from the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). Sophomore close defenseman Koby Smith was added along with senior attackman Brendan Sunday. The pair join seniors Zach Goodrich (SSDM) and Alex Woodall (FOGO) on the previously announced watch list.

Fast Hands for a Big Man
Much has been written about the transformation undergone by Towson senior faceoff specialist Alex Woodall, but he wasn't the only Tiger to undergo a rebuild this summer. Entering the 2017-18 academic year as the team's third goalie on the depth chart, Tyler Canto has improved his game by also trimming down and working over the summer at a boxing clinic to help improve his hand speed, a development clearly shown in his highlight-reel save against No. 1 Loyola on Feb. 27 (See #LaxTwitter for details).

2019 MLL Draft Results
Three Towson University Tigers were selected in this year's Major League Lacrosse Draft, hosted at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina. Faceoff specialist Alex Woodall was the first overall draft pick as the Ohio Machine claimed him to begin the event. Defensive midfielder Zach Goodrich was selected third overall as the Boston Cannons claimed the two-time All-American. Breakout attackman Brendan Sunday was snagged 13th overall by the Atlanta Blaze.

Rank and File
March 23 was the Tigers' sixth contest this season against an opponent ranked in the USILA Division I polls. The Tigers are currently 3-3 against the top 20. The Tigers have not beaten four ranked teams in a single season since the 2017 campaign when Towson went 4-4 versus ranked opponents, collecting wins over No. 6 Johns Hopkins (13-8), No. 9 Hofstra (10-8), No. 13 Penn State (12-8, NCAA First Round) and No. 2 Syracuse (10-7, NCAA Quarterfinals). Towson will potentially have the chance to square up with at least one more ranked opponent this regular season when it heads to Delaware on April 20.

X Marks the Spot
Alex Woodall has won double-digit draws in each of this last 14 games, including a 22-of-23 effort at Fairfield. Over that stretch, he has won 245 of his 327 draws, a remarkable 74.9 winning percentage at the X. Woodall has grabbed 168 ground balls in that span. 

Climbing the Charts
Senior faceoff specialist Alex Woodall is in his third season with the program after transfering from High Point University following his rookie season. The Annapolis, Marylander has made a lasting impact already with his 538 faceoffs in the Black & Gold. He currently ranks first all-time in program history, collecting the 508th win of his career against Hofstra and surpassing Justin Berry who won 507 faceoffs from 1998-2001.

All-Time Faceoff Leader Board
1. 538 Alex Woodall 2017-Pres. (Career at Towson)
2. 507 Justin Berry 1998-01
3. 466 Matt Eckerl 2004-07
4. 411 Scott Mullins 1983-86
5. 375 Mark Goers 1993-95

Hats Off!
Entering the 2018 season, Towson's active roster had combined for four hat tricks. Brendan Sunday had three, Matt Sovero had two and Timmy Monahan had one.

Kicking off the 2019 campaign, the Tigers have turned in 15 hat tricks. Brendan Sunday leads the way with five in the first 10 games while Brody McLean has a quintet as well. Grant Maloof now has two alongside Luke Fromert. Timmy Monahan has one as well. Sunday had a "sock trick" with six goals in the season opener on Feb. 9.

Wearing the C
This season, head coach Shawn Nadelen and his staff announced four student-athletes that will serve as captains for the 2019 season.

Senior defensive midfielder Zach Goodrich is the program's first-ever three-time captain.

Senior attackman Brendan Sunday will be a first-time captain.

Senior defensive midfielder Jimmie Wilkerson will be a first-time captain.

Senior faceoff specialist Alex Woodall will be a first-time captain.

Sunday, Wilkerson and Woodall will wear captains' Cs on their jerseys while Goodrich will have the CB30 patch in lieu of the captains letter.

Home Cooking
As the 2019 season got underway, the Tigers have some home cooking to look forward to.  After picking up a 10-9 win over Hofstra in the CAA opener, the Tigers continued their winning ways at Johnny Unitas ® Stadium. 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. 

Team: Home Record Since 2012 (as of March 30)
Towson: 42-19
Hofstra: 36-25
UMass: 34-22
Fairfield: 32-26
Drexel: 31-18
Delaware: 25-31 

Near. Far. Wherever You Are.
Playing for the home crowd is always a pleasure for any team. But the Tigers have had success on the road in the Shawn Nadelen Era as well. Since taking over the program in 2012, the Tigers have racked a 31-26 (.554) record in road games.

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 former 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
2019: 72.4 / 190.3

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 30 game against Hofstra marked the 32nd time Towson was involved in a one-goal game. And the Tigers have flexed their clutch muscles in those games, sitting at 22-10 in games decided by one goal after a 10-9 win Hofstra at home. 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. 

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 49-7 in games when Towson scores double digits. When Towson's defense limits opponents to single digits, the Tigers are a whopping 69-11 in that same time after a 14-7 win at Fairfield. On 44 occasions, the Tigers have scored in double figures while holding opponents to single digits, obviously a 44-0 record.