RICHMOND, Va. -- As is often said, lacrosse is a game of runs. That was on full display Saturday afternoon as the Towson University men's lacrosse team fell 11-10 at No. 18 Richmond.

Towson (2-3) strung together seven-straight goals in the third quarter for a 9-5 lead, but the host Spiders put together a six-goal run late in the fourth quarter.

The Tigers were led by four points from Austin Stewart (1g, 3a) while Andrew Milani notched the first hat trick of his career. Ryan Swain dished out three points for the Tigers as well.

Richmond (1-2) got a four-point game from Luke Grayum (3g, 1a) as Dalton Young and Ryan Lanchbury had one goal and two assists apiece. Jack Rusbuldt made 13 saves for the Spiders.

How It Happened

• Avanzato got the scoring going as he went five-yards up and five yards over, stinging a bounce shot home at 9:42 of the first quarter.
• The Spiders had three straight goals, with Todd scoring twice, split by Lanchbury. Todd's second goal came at 1:03 of the first quarter.
• Towson ended a scoreless drought and capitalized on an extra-man chance as McLean potted his 11th goal of the year. Ryan Swain had the extra-man helper.
• Richmond scored two goals one minute apart to finish the quarter up 5-2. Mitch Savoca and Luke Grayum scored, respectively, at 2:13 and 1:17.
• The third quarter was all Towson as the Tigers out-scored the hosts 7-1 in the frame. Stewart got things rolling two and a half minutes in before Jake McLean notched one 45 seconds later on a feed from Brody McLean. Avanzato got his second of the day at 9:21 of the fourth on a feed from Stewart.
• Milani then reeled off a natural hat trick at 3:55, 2:57 and 2:14 of the fourth. It was his first career hat trick after averaging two goals a game. Milani and the Tigers took advantage of a three-minute stick penalty assessed to both teams' faceoff men.
• Grayum ended the drought for Richmond at 1:27 of the third as Towson held a 9-5 lead after 45 minutes.
• The Spiders carried their momentum into the fourth quarter, scoring three unanswered from three different sources, Brett Randall, Grayum and Savoca in succession. Dalton Young and Richie Connell added two more goals in the Spiders' run.
• With 2:05 to play in the fourth, Brody McLean wired home a shot that cut Richmond's lead to one. 
• With a chance to tie the game at 11-11, Towson turned the ball over and was unable to recover the possession.

Behind the Numbers

• Both offenses were even throughout as each side took 35 shots. Towson fired 20 in the second half, spreading 10 across each quarter. Shane Brennan made five saves for the Tigers while counterpart Jack Rusbuldt stopped 13 Towson attempts.
• Faceoffs were nearly even in the game. Towson's unit won 11 of the 25 chances, going 6-for-9 in the third quarter. Shane Santora won 7 of his 13 chances while Drew Martin won four of his 12.
• Towson's defense was strong on Saturday, causing eight turnovers. Longstick midfielder Mo Sillah registered two caused turnovers and three ground balls. Santora led the Tigers with four loose balls.
• The Tigers' special teams played well as Towson's man-up unit scored twice, once from Brody McLean and once from Milani. The Towson penalty kill did not allow a goal. Towson has not allowed an extra-man goal since the first quarter of the season opener at Virginia.
• Brody McLean extended his point-scoring streak to 19 with his three points. Stewart finished with a career-high in points (4) and assists (3). Swain also had a career-best with three assists.
• Towson's offense was clicking well as eight goals came with an assist.

Up Next For Towson

• Towson opens a semi-robin of conference play next week at long-time rival Drexel.
• Game time is set for 1 p.m. at Vidas Field in Philadelphia.
• Next weekend will be the season opener for the Dragons, who scrimmaged Division III powerhouse today.
• Towson leads the all-time series against Drexl 46-10, winning the last eight matchups dating back to the 2015 CAA Championship game.
• The two teams did not play last season after the 2020 campaign was shut down. It marked the first time since 1995 the teams did not play.