PHILADELPHIA – The first road game of the season saw a close loss for the Towson University women's lacrosse team, dropping a 13-12 final at Saint Joseph's.
 
Freshman Blair Pearre led the Tigers with three goals off the bench. Three other Tigers scored twice while sophomore Molly Lynch paced Towson with four assists. Rookie goalkeeper Carly Merlo started and finished with seven saves.
 
The Tigers fall to 0-2 to start the season and will face Loyola on Wednesday night in Baltimore.
 
How it Happened

• Towson struck first with sophomore Nicole Liucci recording the opening goal assisted by Lynch. Liucci's score gave the road team the advantage for only 25 seconds as the Hawks scored.
• Saint Joseph's scored three unanswered, holding a 3-1 lead with 21 minutes remaining in the first.
• Kaitlin Thornton scored on a free position and cut the lead but seemingly the Hawks always had an answer.
• With 9:04 left in the first period the score was tied 4-4. Towson would score the next four goals with no response from the home team. In a seven-minute time frame Julia Porter, Shelby Stack, Rayna Deltuva and Blair Pearre scored.
• Pearre capped the run with a free position goal in the last three seconds of the half as Towson entered the locker room with a 9-5 lead.
• Starting the second half the road team struck quickly again, this time from Deltuva, taking a 10-5 lead with 28:31 to go.
• Saint Joseph's then scored four of the next five goals, cutting the lead to 11-9 with 16 minutes remaining.
• Five unanswered goals from the Hawks tied the game with 13:59 to go and then took the lead with 6:30 remaining. Towson hadn't scored for 18 minutes.
• With 3:29 on the clock Pearre scored her third of the day and tied the game 12-12.
• Neither team allowed a goal in through the next two minutes until Sophia Kolkka scored for SJU with 46 seconds left.
• The Hawks' defense held the Tigers back from the cage during their possession and forced a turnover behind the goal letting time run out and sealing the win.

Beyond the Box

• In just her second collegiate appearance, coming off the bench, freshman Blair Pearre recorded her first career hat trick and led the Towson offense.
• Rookie goalkeeper Carly Merlo recorded a career-best seven saves against the Hawks.
• Fellow freshman, Sara Tyssowski, saw her first college minutes between the posts today, she recorded her first collegiate save.
• Another rookie, Gabby Garrett, saw her first collegiate start today at attack.
• Sophomore Julia Porter recorded a career-high two goals at SJU.
• Molly Lynch's four assists are the sophomore's career-best.

 
Looking Ahead
Towson continues on the road for Wednesday's game at Loyola and returns home on February 29 to host High Point.