TOWSON, Md. – Saturday afternoon the Towson University women's lacrosse team returns home for a game against High Point at Johnny Unitas ® Stadium.
 
First draw is set for 12 p.m. and the game will be streamed by the Towson Sports Network. Ben Rosenbaum will be on the call with Hayley Ross on color commentary. Live stats will be available on TowsonTigers.com.
 
Last Time Out
The Tigers are coming off a tough loss at No. 12/10 Loyola last Wednesday. Towson took an early two-goal lead before the Greyhounds opened the floodgates and scored seven straight. Rookie Blair Pearre scored three goals to lead Towson, as the road team didn't see the back of the net for almost 36 minutes. With 3:54 on the clock Loyola led 13-6 and several starters were taken out to rest. The Tigers then scored four straight, cutting the lead to 13-10 with 58 seconds to go. The Greyhounds sent players back in to score again with less than 30 to go, taking the 14-10 victory.
 
Scouting the Tigers
Senior Shelby Stack leads the Tigers in points this season with nine while freshman Blair Pearre has a team-high eight goals thus far. Sophomore Molly Lynch leads the team in assists with five. 11 different Tigers have scored at least once this season, five players have two goals apiece. Both Towson goalies have seen time in the net, Carly Merlo has started every game and with 165 minutes between the pipes she has 25 saves on a .410 save percentage.
 
Scouting the Panthers
High Point comes to town with a 1-2 record after falling to James Madison last weekend in a 13-8 final. The Panthers have also lost to No. 1 North Carolina, 24-3, and have one win over Mercer 18-11 in the season opener. Leading the offense is Ashley Britton with eight goals, Rachel Foster has six and Nicole Pugh has five. Abby Hormes leads the Panthers in draw controls she has 15 through three games, averaging five, and Meredith Chapman paces the team in caused turnovers with nine. In the net the Panthers have played two goalies. Sarah Zeto has started in all three games and has nine saves on a .250 save percentage with 44 shots faced. Jill Rall has played more minutes in the goal, with eight saves on 36 shots faced.
 
Last Time Against High Point
Last March Towson traveled to then-No. 24 High Point and fell 12-8. Natalie Sulmonte scored five goals for the Tigers. The game was tight as the Panthers led 6-4 entering halftime. Coming out for the second half the Tigers scored twice to tie the game up. HPU took a one-goal lead, 7-6 with 16:33 to go, but Towson responded with two more taking an 8-7 lead. The Tigers never saw the back of the net again as the Panthers scored five unanswered to seal the win.
 
The High Point Series
Saturday will be just the third time these teams have met overall and only the second time in the regular season. The Panthers lead the series 2-0. In the first meeting the Tigers fell in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament in 2017, a 21-15 final score in College Park.
 
Tigers in NCAA Stats
Rookie Blair Pearre is currently tied for first in the nation in free position goals per game, averaging two. Pearre ranks 23^rd nationally in free position percentage with .75. Senior defender Sami Chenoweth is 17th in caused turnovers per game averaging 2.33 while Rayna Deltuva is 30th with 2.0 on average. Freshman goalkeeper Carly Merlo is 44th in the nation in ground balls per game, averaging 3.0. As a team the Tigers are 19th in the nation in caused turnovers per game with 11.67 on average.
 
CAA Stat Leaders
Conference play is still a handful of games away, but the Tigers are holding on to top-10 spots in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) stat categories. Blair Pearre is seventh in the league in goals, with 2.67 on average, Shelby Stack is tenth with two per game. Molly Lynch is second in the CAA in assists with 1.67, Stack appears again at No. 8 with one per game. Stack is seventh in the league in points per game with nine total, averaging three. Carly Merlo is second in the CAA in ground balls per game with three while Rayna Deltuva is 10th with two. Sami Chenoweth is third in caused turnovers per game with 2.33. Pearre also is listed in draw controls per game, she and Kerri Thornton are both averaging 3.33 per game and tied for eighth place.

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.
 
Join us at Johnny Unitas ® Stadium
Tickets remain on sale all season long to watch Towson women's lacrosse. Seven home games remain! Visit the ticket link on our schedule page, or call 1-855-TU-Tiger today to purchase tickets.