Opening Faceoff
Towson looks to string together wins for the first time in 2021 as the Tigers hit the middle stretch of a three-game road swing. Saturday's showdown in Richmond will serve as Towson's penultimate nonconference game of the regular season.

In The National Rankings
Towson received votes in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. Richmond is currently ranked 18th in both the USILA Coaches Poll and the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. The Spiders were slated 17th in the US Lacrosse Magazine Top 20.

The Middle of the Road Trip Tigers
Game two of the week and game two of a three-game road trip awaits the Tigers on Saturday. Towson improved to 2-2 on the young season with an 11-5 win at Mount St. Mary's on Wednesday. James Avanzato paced the Tigers with a two-goal, three assist evening. Brody McLean (10g, 3a) leads Towson with 13 points, including three hat tricks in four games this season. Avanzato (7g, 4a) is nipping at his heels and leads Towson's assist column with four. Steady scorer Andrew Milani (8g) has two goals in every game this season. Four different Tigers have scored a man-up goal this season, while their man-down counterparts continues to be one of the best in the country, killing penalties at an 87.5 percent rate. Towson's PK unit has not allowed a goal in 225 minutes and 24 seconds, dating back to the second quarter of the season opener at #1 Virginia. Redshirt junior netminder Shane Brennan made 18 saves in Wednesday's road win, tying a career best. He allowed just five goals and finished with a 78.3 save percentage for the game. A new face at the X, Drew Martin, went 5-of-8 in his first faceoff appearance since his senior season of high school.

Scouting the Spiders
Richmond enters Saturday's fray with an 0-2 record, coming off a 14-9 decision against No. 2 North Carolina on Sunday. Saturday will be the third of a four-game homestand to open 2021 for the Spiders, who welcome No. 1 Duke to Robins Stadium on March 7. Ryan Lanchbury (2g, 4a) is the top point getter for Richmond and is the top feeder for the Spiders. Richie Connell (4g) is close behind with four points. Connell is the key on the extra-man, scoring three times on the power play. Richmond has split duties at the X, rolling out Andrew Hamilton (8-of-21) and Jacob Griffin (7-20). The former has four ground balls, the later with three. Jack Rusbuldt has played all 121 minutes in net for Richmond, turning aside 31 saves with a 58.5 save percentage. He has faced down 82 total shots this season.

Towson-Richmond History
Saturday will be the first-ever official meeting between the Tigers and Spiders. The two squads have gotten together for fall competition, including an Oct. 19, 2019 exhibition day at nearby Boys' Latin School. This will be Towson's first SoCon opponent since March 8, 2019, a 15-13 win over Jacksonville at the Crown Lacrosse Classic in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Towson-Richmond By the Numbers
All-Time Series Record First Meeting
at Towson n/a
at Richmond First Meeting
at Neutral Sites n/a
at Unknown Sites n/a
First Meeting  February 27, 2021
Last Meeting n/a
Streak n/a

Last Time Out vs. Richmond |First Meeting | Richmond, Va. | Robins Stadium
Saturday's showdown at Robins Stadium will be the first meeting between the Tigers and the Spiders in program history.

With a Win Saturday Towson Would...
- Win back-to-back true road games for the first time since winning three straight during the 2019 season (14-7 at Fairfield (4/6/19), 14-12 at #20 Delaware (4/20/19), 11-9 at Drexel (4/27/19).
- Improve Towson to 1-0 all-time at Robins Stadium.
- Be the Tigers first back-to-back wins since winning four straight late in the 2019 campaign.
- See Towson win its first game in the Commonwealth of Virginia since topping No. 5 Virginia 14-13 in the first round of the 1991 NCAA Tournament.
- Improve Towson to 5-0 all-time against Southern Conference member schools.

Milani Named CAA Rookie of the Week
- Redshirt freshman Andrew Milani was tapped as the CAA Rookie of the Week on Tuesday.
- He scored two goals against No. 1 Duke at home last weekend.
- Milani is the second Tiger to win Rookie of the Week this season (Colby Barsz, Feb. 16).

Toques Off
- Fifth-year senior Brody McLean scored a hat trick in back-to-back games for the Tigers to open the 2021 campaign.
- He was the first Tiger to score hat tricks in back-to-back games to open the season since he himself did it to open the 2019 season.
- McLean now has three hat tricks in four games for the Tigers, adding the 10th of his career Wednesday night at Mount St. Mary's.

All-Time vs. The Southern Conference
- A relatively new league (2015) in college lacrosse landscape, Towson has a brief history with the SoCon.
- Saturday will be Towson's 12th game against an institution currently aligned with the SoCon, and will be the Tigers' fifth all-time against a school currently competing in the SoCon.
- Towson vs. Member Schools All-Time (as SoCon)
Air Force: 3-0 (0-0) | Bellermine: 0-0  High Point: 2-1 (1-0) | Jacksonville: 2-0 (1-0)
Richmond: 0-0 | VMI: 0-0
- Saturday will be Towson's first clash with a SoCon school since topping Jacksonville 15-13 in the pouring rain at the Crown Lacrosse Classic in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The Steve Grossi Reunion Tour
Hop in your van and get ready for a tour. Last Saturday kicked off a four-part series of the Steve Grossi Reunion Tour. This spring, the Tigers will take on three institutions assistant coach Steve Grossi has a connection with. The first stop was last weekend's game against Saint Joseph's, where Grossi was the defensive coordinator for three seasons (2013-15). Next up is a trip to the University of Richmond, where Grossi was a defensive coach and recruiting coordinator for two seasons (2017-18). In league play, Towson will take on Grossi's alma mater, Drexel, twice: March 6 in Philadelphia and May 1 at Unitas ® Stadium.

The Tigers are currently 1-0 on the Steve Grossi Reunion Tour.

The Buddy System
So far in the young season, Towson's feeders have been all over the field; Only two pairs have assisted each other more than once. James Avanzato has assisted Brody McLean three times, including two at Mount St. Mary's (Feb. 24). Casey Wasserman has fed Avanzato twice, most recently at The Mount.
J. Avanzato -> B. McLean: 3
C. Wasserman -> J. Avanzato: 2
J. McLean -> J. Avanzato: 1 | J. McLean -> B. McLean: 1 | B. McLean -> J. Avanzato: 1
B. McLean -> A. Milani | R. Gaeger -> B. McLean: 1 | B. McLean -> A. Beacham: 1
C. Gallagher -> B. McLean: 1 | C. Wasserman -> G. Ey: 1 | A. Beacham -> B. McLean: 1
R. Swain -> A. Milani: 1 | A. Ducommun -> A. Milani: 1 | J. Bender -> J. Gaskins: 1
J. Gaskins -> A. Milani: 1 | J. Avanzato -> R. Swain: 1 | R. Swain -> B. McLean: 1

A New Face
Faceoffs have been an area needing improvement for the Tigers in 2021. Five different Tigers have trotted out to the X this season. On Wednesday, two new faces stepped in, with Ethan Ticehurst grabbing the first handful of attempts at Mount St. Mary's. Later in the game, Drew Martin went 5-for-8 in his first collegiate draws. Those eight chances were his first faceoff attempts since his senior season of high school at Half Hollow Hills High School.  Ticehurst, a longstick midfielder, had previous faceoff experience at Division II Saint Leo University.

Eyes On
Senior defenseman and USILA All-American Koby Smith was one of 50 men's lacrosse players named to the 2020 Tewaaraton Trophy Watch list early last season. Smith was added to the Watch List in March last season as well. Now in his 10th season at the helm of the program, head coach Shawn Nadelen has had at least one player named to the first round of the Tewaaraton Watch List in every season: Koby Smith (2020), Zach Goodrich, Alex Woodall (2019), Goodrich (2018), Jack Adams, Ryan Drenner (2017), Tyler White (2016), Andrew Hodgson (2015), Thomas DeNapoli (2014), DeNapoli, Andrew Wascavage (2013) and Peter Mezzanotte (2012).

Flair for the Dramatic
Redshirt freshman Andrew Milani has a flair for the dramatic as he chose overtime to score his first collegiate game-winning goal. With 2:34 left in overtime against Saint Joseph's on February 13, Milani drove the alley, rolled back and threw a low shot on goal and scored five-hole for an 8-7 win. Per Milani, that was his first overtime game-winning goal since March 14, 2018 in his junior campaign at nearby St. Paul's School with an 11-10 on the road at Norfolk Academy in Virginia.

The Gauntlet
- Year in and year out Towson constructs one of the toughest Division I schedules.
- In this week's major polls, five 2021 opponents are ranked inside the top 20
- #2/#1 Duke | #3/#2 Virginia | #11/#12 Loyola | #14/#14 UMass | #18/#18 Richmond
- Four Towson opponents are receiving votes in this week's USILA Coaches' Poll
Saint Joseph's, Hofstra, Drexel, Delaware
- Towson played four ranked opponents in six games during 2020: No. 11 Johns Hopkins, No. 12 Cornell, No. 12 Loyola, and No. 13 Georgetown.
- The Tigers played five single-digit ranked opponents during the 2019 season: No. 7 Johns Hopkins, No. 1 Loyola, No. 3 Cornell, No. 2 Duke, No. 6 Maryland.

Preseason Accolades
Senior defenseman Koby Smith was honored several times during the preseason. He was selected as the CAA Preseason Defensive Player of the Year and was a second team All-America pick by both the USILA and Inside Lacrosse. Additionally, Smith was selected to the Preseason All-CAA Team.

Ever See Half a Bird?
This season, the Tigers will enter in round-robin-and-a-half style conference schedule. Towson will play all five CAA opponents, while squaring off with long-time rivals Delaware, Drexel and Hofstra twice, once at home and once on the road. Towson will play eight league games this spring, three more than the normal five-game slate. Hofstra will host the 2021 CAA Men's Lacrosse Championship at Shuart Stadium in early May. The top four teams will vie for the league's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament.

February Stars
- The concept of February lacrosse is a newer development, much to the chagrin of fans.
- Towson's first-ever game in amethyst birth month was February 28, 1998, an 18-15 track meet against UMBC.
- All-time, the Tigers are 25-25 in the month of February.
- Under head coach Shawn Nadelen, the Tigers are 18-17 in February.
- Towson and Mount St. Mary's have seen one another seven times in February. Towson is 6-1 in those February meetings.
- Towson and Richmond have never played.

On this Date: February 27
- Towson will play its sixth game all-time on February 27.
- Towson is 4-1 on this date, with the first win a 10-6 decision over Radford in 2001.
- Towson is 1-0 all-time on the road picking up a 7-4 win at the Mount in 2015.
- The Tigers are 3-0 on February 27 under head coach Shawn Nadelen (2012).
- Towson has won its last three games on this date, including a 12-10 decision at home over No. 1 Loyola during the 2019 campaign.

All-Time vs. No. 18
- The Tigers are 3-2 all-time against teams ranked 18th in the USILA Coaches' Poll.
- Towson is 2-0 on the road against 18th-ranked opponents, but have not played on the road against an 18th ranked opponent since a 9-8 win at Loyola in 2007.
- The Tigers' first-ever meeting against an 18th ranked opponent resulted in a 15-13 shootout against Penn State.
- Towson will look to halt a two-game slide against No. 18.
- The Tigers are 1-2 under Shawn Nadelen against 18th ranked opponents.
- Towson has not seen an 18th ranked foe since a 6-3 loss against Ohio State in 2017.

The Top Third
- Towson University head coach Shawn Nadelen is in his 10th season at the helm.
- Hired as the top man following the 2011 season, Nadelen is the 25th-longest tenured Division I head men's lacrosse in the country.
- Nadelen was one of four head coaches elevated during the 2011 offseason: Brian Brecht (Rutgers), Keegan Wilkinson (Marist) and Taylor Wray (Saint Joseph's).

Towson Lacrosse x Lax Sports Network
- Towson men's lacrosse and Lax Sports Network will continue to enjoy the partnership the organizations have fostered over the years.
- This spring, Towson will appear on LSN four times as the CAA Game of the Week: Feb. 20 vs. Duke, March 13 vs. Hofstra, March 20 at Delaware, and March 27 vs. Loyola.
- The CAA Semifinals and Championship at Hofstra will also be carried on LSN.

CB30 Award
In the summer of 2018, Towson Lacrosse great Carl Beernink passed away. An integral part of the program's rise to dominance in the 1990s, Carl was a leader and inspiration to the program both on and off the field. This season, Carson Gaeger will wear a CB30 badge on his jerseys to honor the late Carl Beernink. This annual award will be given to a Towson player who embodies the fighting spirit of Carl Beernink.

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 34-28 (.548) record in road games.

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 54-8 in games when Towson scores double digits. When Towson's defense limits opponents to single digits, the Tigers are a whopping 72-11 in that same time after an 11-5 decision at Mount St. Mary's (Feb. 24). On 46 occasions, the Tigers have scored in double figures while holding opponents to single digits, obviously a 46-0 record.