TOWSON, Md. – The 45^th season of Towson University women's lacrosse is set to open Saturday afternoon at Mount St. Mary's. It is just the second meeting between the schools. The Tigers defeated the Mountaineers to open the 2009 campaign.

In the previous 10 seasons with Sonia LaMonica at the helm, the Tigers have won 110 games and earned spots in the NCAA Tournament six times. Towson has won seven Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) tournament titles since 2005, including four under LaMonica. 

"I anticipated a pretty smooth transition being that we have a lot of great returners who are back. They know the drill," LaMonica said. "The energy has been great. The attitudes have been awesome and everyone has been competing really hard."

LaMonica's team will feature 10 starters from last year's team, including All-American defender Sami Chenoweth and top goal scorers Blair Pearre and Shelby Stack. Those three student-athletes were selected Preseason All-CAA by the league coaches.

The 2021 team has 13 new faces, including talented transfers Natalie Miller (Maryland), Nikki Sliwak (Maryland) and Olivia Malamphy (Boston College).

"We are very fortunate to have three outstanding transfers come into the program," added LaMonica. "It has been a seamless transition. All three of them are competitors."

After facing The Mount, the Tigers play four consecutive games at its new home, the newly- renovated Tiger Field. Towson will take on UMBC (February 19), Loyola (February 24), George Mason (February 28) and Stony Brook (March 7).

The CAA is using a divisional format this season to reduce travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Towson is in the North Division with Hofstra, Drexel and Delaware. The Tigers were picked to finish second in the division, behind Hofstra.  Five teams – the top two in each division plus one at-large selection – will advance to the CAA tournament hosted by James Madison on May 6, 7 and 9.

The 2021 squad will face three teams ranked in the IWLCA Preseason Coaches Poll and the Nike/US Lacrosse Magazine Division I Preseason Top 20: Loyola, Stony Brook and James Madison.

ATTACK
The Towson attack will feature five student-athletes who started games at the position a season ago, including sisters Kaitlin Thornton and Kerri Thornton.

"They are a great group and we have lots of options, LaMonica stated. "It a good problem with lots of talent vying for an opportunity."
 
A team co-captain, Kaitlin Thornton will be the catalyst on attack. One of six products of Ward Melville High School on the roster, she has produced 102 points (71g, 31a) in 43 games. She has 22 multiple goal games, including 10 hat tricks. Thornton, who has started all but one game in her career, was an all-rookie selection in 2018 and named second team all-league the following season.

Junior Kerri Thornton finished fourth on the team with 12 points (5g, 7a) a year ago and led the team with 21 draw controls, including a season-best six against Stony Brook. In 23 games in a Tiger uniform, she has 31 points and 69 draw controls.

Julia Porter led the Tigers in assists last season as a sophomore with 12, including a career-best seven assists in a victory over Ohio State. In the Ohio State game where Porter dished out seven assists, Abbe Mona scored seven goals. The graduate student ended the 2020 campaign with 10 goals.

Molly Lynch tallied five assists in three games last season, including a career-high four against Saint Joseph's, before suffering a season ending injury.

Others vying for playing time at attack include freshman Hannah Delahaye. She finished her career at Owen J. Roberts High School with 202 career goals, including 108 during her junior year in 2019.

MIDFIELD
Two starters return on midfield, including Pearre, the only true sophomore on the All-CAA team. An Under Armour All-American as a senior at the McDonogh School, Pearre had an impressive freshman season for Towson, scoring a team-leading 14 goals and was second in draw controls (20). She had hat tricks in four of the six games played in 2020.

"Blair is one of those scrappy, scrappy players," LaMonica said. "She is not intimidated by anything or anyone. She will run through brick walls to get the job done. She makes things happen on both ends of the field."

Stack led the Tigers in points last season with 13 goals and 4 assists. The graduate student had a pair of hat tricks in 2020 and scored a goal in all six games. An All-CAA Tournament selection two years ago, she has at least one goal in 20 of the last 22 games, dating back to 2019. 

"Blair and Shelby have great chemistry," added LaMonica. "They look for each other and play really well together."

The Liucci twins, Nicole Liucci and Kerri Liucci, will be in the midfield rotation for the third consecutive season. Nicole has 16 points in 16 games, including four goals against Ohio State in last season's finale. Kerri had 10 goals during her freshman season and enters her junior campaign with 17 career points.

"Both girls are highly skilled and super hard working players," LaMonica said. "They have come a long way defensively and I anticipate they will play a bigger role for us."

Sliwak, a graduate student, played four years at the University of Maryland, winning two national championships. She appeared in 24 games for the Terps, scoring seven goals and dishing out three assists.

LaMonica praised the play and lacrosse IQ of freshman Lindsey Marshall. The Catonsville High School product will be in the mix to handle draws. She scored 54 goals and won 104 draws as a high school junior in 2019.

DEFENSE
Chenoweth, who was named third team All-American by Inside Lacrosse earlier this month, will anchor the Towson defense. The graduate student was selected third team All-American after the shortened 2020 season when she ranked sixth in the nation in caused turnovers per game. The Manchester Valley (MD) product led the nation in turnovers in 2019 and ranks first in Towson history in career caused turnovers (151). She was one of 50 players invited to tryout for the United States team that will represent the nation in the 2022 World Lacrosse Women's World Championship.

"She has been training super hard and has had quite a transformation physically. That is no question going to help her being even more dangerous player on the field," LaMonica said. "She is playing with a lot of confidence. She is being a great leader. She is walking the talk. That is what you want to see from your captain."

Senior Rayna Deltuva, a teammate of Chenoweth's at Manchester Valley High School, is one of the most versatile players on the roster. As a sophomore, she started 14 games at midfield and scored 17 goals. Last season, LaMonica switched her to defense where she caused seven turnovers. 

"Rayna shines on defense," LaMonica said. "That is what suits her best. We are able to put her where she will be help this team the most. She certainly can finish and will be a threat coming out of the defensive end in transition.  She is strong and will be able to matchup with some of the more powerful players that we might see this season."

Erin Williams has started every game during her two years at Towson. The Hereford product usually marks the biggest threat. In 23 career games, she has 17 caused turnovers, 20 ground balls and 25 draw controls.

"She floats under the radar, but she is one of the best defenders out there," LaMonica added. "She is so quick, so athletic, so disciplined. She has a much different from Sami. You will not see her making those playmaking caused turnovers, but she knows how to shut people down. Not a lot of people know the name Erin Williams, but my hope is that this year they will start taking notice because she truly is our best match-up defender because of that discipline and how quick she is."

Miller and Malamphy will also be part of the mix on defense.

Like Sliwak, Miller played four years at the University of Maryland, winning a pair of national championships. Coming out of St. Mary's High School in Annapolis, she was ranked as the No. 48 incoming freshman by Inside Lacrosse.

"Right now the question is does she focus on defense or midfield?" LaMonica said. "Because it is hard to stop Natalie Miller when she's got her engine going towards the cage. We have seen that at practice. She is a powerful player."

Malamphy spent her freshman season at Boston College. At Archbishop Spalding High School, she was a three-time Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland (IAAM) A Conference selection. The IAAM is the most competitive conference in the country.

GOALKEEPERS
Carly Merlo started all six games as a freshman in 2020. She recorded a career-high 12 saves against Loyola and led the team in ground balls with 17, including seven against Penn State in her collegiate debut.

Sophomore Sara Tyssowski, who appeared in three games last season, and freshman Lindsay Posner, who helped Hereford win back-to-back Baltimore County championships, are the backups.

"I love our three goalies," LaMonica said. "What I love about them is that they are pretty unflappable mentally and that is a great character trait for a goalie. You have to have a short memory and be able to bounce back. All three have the ability to do that well. I am curious to see how things shake out. I think it is going to be very competitive."