TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University women's lacrosse team scored five goals in the first five minutes of the game and cruised to an 18-4 victory over George Mason at rainy Tiger Field on Sunday afternoon.
 
The Tigers are now 4-0 to start the season for the first time since 2016.
 
After starting the season with back-to-back victories over Mount St. Mary's (10-7) and UMBC (12-5), Towson received votes in the latest Women's Division I Media Poll announced Monday by Inside Lacrosse. The Tigers are one of six teams outside of the Top 20 to receive votes. Towson also garnered votes in the U.S. Lacrosse Women's Top 20 poll.
 
Towson then held #8/#10 Loyola scoreless for more than 35 minutes on Wednesday evening during a 13-7 win.
 
Nikki Sliwak led a balanced attack with a career-high six points (2 g, 4a). Molly Lynch scored a career-best three goals and added an assist. Freshman Lindsey Marshall had her third hat trick and added five draw controls.  Blair Pearre (2g, 1a), Kaitlin Thornton (2g, 1a) and Shelby Stack (1g, 1a) also had multiple point games.
 
Thornton and Pearre each had two goals during the initial run to begin the game. After the Patriots cut the lead to 5-1, Towson scored eight straight before intermission. During that stretch, Marshall and Lynch each scored goals, while Sliwak scored and assisted on two goals.
 
Head coach Sonia LaMonica emptied the bench during the second half. Freshman Hannah Delahaye and Andra Savage scored their first career goals, while Lindsay Posner (four saves) shined in the goal.
 
Towson All-American defender Sami Chenoweth, who held Loyola All-American attacker Livy Rosenzweig to two assists on Wednesday, caused a game-high three turnovers to increase her school record total to 161.
 
Towson holds a 13-7 advantage in the all-time series versus George Mason. The Tigers have won 12 of the last 13 meetings. The two teams played at least once for 17 consecutive seasons (1997-2013), but this was the first matchup since.
 
Records: 

• Towson – 4-0
• George Mason – 0-2

 
Head coach Sonia LaMonica Postgame Quotes: 

• Fast Start: "The girls really came out firing on all cylinders. We came into the game with a lot of respect for our opponent. It is easy to come off such a big win and get lazy and complacent. That was a big message coming into today's game. I was really pleased the girls took it to heart and came out strong, setting the tone for the game."
• Balanced Attack: "It is really neat to see the chemistry coming together. Really great to see that nine of the goals were assisted with a lot of balanced scoring across the board."

 
How it Happened: 

• Towson jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a free-position goal from Pearre just 40 seconds into the game.  
• Sixty-seven seconds later, Stack found Thornton on the doorstep, giving Towson a 2-0 lead.
• Off the ensuing draw, Towson made it 3-0. Pearre won the draw, pushed it then dished to Lynch, who found Thornton.
• Fourteen seconds later, Pearre once again won the draw control and fed Stack.
• Three minutes later, Pearre scored another free-position goal. It was 5-0 five minutes and 15 seconds into the game.
• After Mason scored, Marshall scored twice in span of 10 seconds. The first was a dodge from out front. She then won the draw clean and weaved through the Patriots defense to put Towson up, 7-1.
• Lynch then scored the next two goals in 26 seconds off assists from Kerri Liucci and Sliwak. It was 9-1 with 11:17 remaining in the opening half.
• Marshall completed her hat trick with 8:46 left with an unassisted goal to make it 10-1.
• Towson scored three goals in the last seven minutes of the opening half. Sliwak had free-position goal and fed Lynch for her third goal of the half. Nicole Liucci had the other tally.
• Towson scored five of the first six goals of the second half. Sliwak had another goal and found Madison Hobbes for an easy goal during the first nine minutes of the second half. Gabby Garrett, Delahaye and Savage finished the scoring for Towson.

 
Key Stats:

• Towson had 11 players scored goals and 12 players had at least a point. It is the most goal scorers in a game since 10 found the back of the net in a 22-12 win over William & Mary in 2019.
• The Tigers have held all four opponents under 10 goals this season. During the 2018 campaign, Towson held opponents to less than 10 goals in four straight contests from April 6 through 15.
• Towson converted 19-of-20 clear attempts. For the season, the Tigers have had successful clears in 86-of-89 attempts (96.6%).
• Marshall won five draw controls for the third consecutive game and has 19 in four games. She also has 12 points (10g, 2a).
• Sliwak, one of three talented transfers on the 2021 team, set her previous career-best point total earlier in the week with four goals and one assist versus Loyola. For the week, she scored six goals and had five assists. In 24 games at Maryland, she had seven goals and three assists. She now leads the Tigers in points with 14.

 
Inside the Numbers: 

• Pearre has now scored at least two goals in nine of 10 games at the collegiate level.
• Kaitlin Thornton has multiple points in three of the four games this season. The senior, who has 110 career points (77g, 33a), has produced multiple points in 33 of 47 games in a Towson uniform.
• Stack has now scored at least one goal in 24 of the last 26 games, dating back to 2019.
• Making their Towson debut today (in order of appearance): Samantha Intrieri, Posner, Blair Goodrich, Savage, Paige Abbott, Riley Brogan, Emma Haring, Jenna DiPeso and Paiton Abbott.

Next Game: 
Towson wraps up a four-game homestand next Sunday, March 7 at Tiger Field versus #5 ranked Stony Brook. Game time is 1 p.m.  The game will be streamed on Towson Sports Network with Ben Rosenbaum on the call. Live stats will be available on TowsonTigers.com.