BALTIMORE, Md. – Wednesday night the Towson University women's lacrosse team traveled to face its first ranked opponent of the year, with a matchup at No. 12/10 Loyola.
 
The Tigers ended with a 14-10 loss to the Greyhounds.
 
Towson was led by freshman Blair Pearre with three goals and two goals from both Shelby Stack and Kerri Thornton. Stack paced the Tigers with two assists. Rookie goalkeeper Carly Merlo finished with 12 saves, her first double-figure save appearance.
 
How it Happened

• An unprecedented quick start from the road team with Julia Porter scoring the first goal of the evening and putting Towson up 1-0.
• Rookie goalkeeper Carly Merlo held on strong with four saves throughout the first period as Blair Pearre scored on a free position attempt with 22 minutes to go in the half.
• Loyola scored the next five goals unanswered, taking a 4-2 lead into halftime and scoring the first goal of the second half to extend the lead.
• With 22:30 on the clock the Greyhounds led 5-2.
• Towson was held scoreless for 34 minutes and broke the silence with a 3-0 run started by Molly Lynch 11 minutes into the second half.
• After Lynch scored with 19 minutes remaining, Pearre racked another one in on a free position attempt and the Tigers trailed by three.
• With 16:01 on the clock Kerri Thornton sent a ball into the net after a feed from Shelby Stack with just three seconds left in the possession. Towson trailed 7-5.
• The Greyhounds responded with three unanswered goals, taking an 11-5 lead with 8:52 to go.
• With 4:45 remaining Kerri Thornton took advantage of a woman-up possession, scoring from Nicole Liucci and cutting the lead to 12-6.
• Loyola scored a minute later before Towson scored four-straight.
• With 58 seconds to go Towson had cut the lead to 13-10.
• Jillian Wilson scored for the Greyhounds with 26 seconds to go, cutting off the scoring spout from the road team and insuring the 14-10 victory.

Beyond the Box

• Blair Pearre recorded her second consecutive hat trick of the season and of her career.
• Pearre leads the Tigers offensively this season with now eight goals.
• Carly Merlo's 12 saves are her career-high.
• This is the second time Towson has had at least six players score once, the Tigers had seven goal scorers last week at Saint Joseph's.

Looking Ahead
Towson hosts High Point on Saturday, Feb. 29 at Johnny Unitas ® Stadium.