Opening Faceoff
The second round of CAA action kicks off with a midweek showdown between long time rivals. The Tigers and Hofstra meet for the second time in a 10 day stretch after a battle on Long Island on April 3.

In The National Rankings
Towson received votes in the USILA Coaches Poll this week, but did not earn mention in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. Hofstra was slotted 17th in the USILA Coaches' Poll and 15 in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.

The Three of the Next Four at Home Tigers
Stop us if you've heard this before, but it was another one-goal game for the Tigers last weekend against Fairfield. Towson ran off six-straight goals in a come-from-behind win in league play. James Avanzato (13g, 14a) has turned in a feeder recently, dishing out three assists last weekend to take the team lead in points (27). Brody McLean (20g, 5a), owner of one of the nation's longest point streaks, and redshirt freshman Andrew Milani (20g, 2a) are each north of the 20-point threshold. This season, 23 different Tigers have picked up at least one point. Defensively, Towson is paced by 13 caused turnovers from Mo Sillah and another dozen from Garrett Zungailia, who leads Towson with 27 ground balls. Shane Brennan has turned aside 111 opponent shots this season, entering Tuesday's game with a .500 save percentage. He is also second in ground balls with 20. Towson boasts one of the best man-down units in the country, killing off penalties at a .750 percent rate. Towson has allowed just six goals on 24 opponent chances, ranking 12th in Division I. Of the 11 teams to have played at least 10 games this spring, Towson has the third-best man-down percentage and the best in the CAA.

Scouting the Pride
Hofstra comes to town with a 6-2 overall record and a 3-1 mark in the CAA after issuing a 12-11 decision to UMass last weekend, the second meeting between the schools this season. Ryan Tierney (34g, 14) is playing at a high rate, leading the Pride with 48 points. Partner in crime Justin Lynskey (17g, 14a) is tied with Tierney for the team lead in assists. Riley Forte has emerged as a threat in the man-up for Hofstra, scoring five of the Pride's 14 EMO goals. Hofstra has been dead split between two netminders this spring; Bobby Casey has played 240 minutes while Mac Gates has seen 241 minutes of action. The latter stops shots at a .478 percent clip while the later sits at .474. The each have a 3-1 record. Chase Patterson and Brian Herber have been the go-to FOGOs this spring; Patterson is 42-61 (.689) as Herber wins at a .659 percent clip (.659).

Towson-Hofstra History
It's another Towson series that dates back nearly to the program's beginning; Towson and Hofstra first met on the lacrosse field in 1961, Towson's third varsity season. The Pride lead the series 28-23 all-time. Hofstra holds a slight 6-4 edge in the last 10 meetings. The Pride won the first meeting of the regular season with an 8-7 decision at Shuart Stadium, staving off a furious rally from the Tigers late in the game.

Towson-Hofstra By the Numbers
All-Time Series Record  Hofstra 28-23
at Towson Towson 15-9
at Hofstra Hofstra 18-8
at Neutral Sites Hofstra 1-0
at Unknown Sites n/a
First Meeting  May 10, 1961 (HOF 14, TOW 2)
Last Meeting April 3, 2021
Hofstra 8, Towson 7
Streak Towson -1

Last Time Out vs. Hofstra | April 3, 2021 | Hempstead, N.Y. | Shuart Stadium
In the first of two regular season meetings this spring, Towson dropping a narrow 8-7 decision on Long Island, mounting a comeback that fell one goal short. Towson tied the game 6-6 with half the fourth quarter to play, but back-to-back Pride goals 30 seconds apart put the final score out of reach for Towson. Brody McLean had two goals and a helper for Towson, while Andrew Milani, Austin Stewart and Ryan Swain posted a goal and assist each. Ryan Tierney went for just one goal on 10 total shots, but finished with four points behind three assists. Justin Sykes added three goals as well. Both netminders went into double digit saves, with Towson's Shane Brennan making 10 stops while Bobby Casey made a dozen for the Pride. Brian Herber won the majority of the draws, going 13-of-18 at the X.

With a Win Tuesday Towson Would...
- Win back-to-back CAA games for the first time since closing out the 2019 regular season.
- See Towson win its 24th game all-time.
- Be its third-straight at home this spring.
- Kick off Towson's revenge tour with a win.

Long-Standing Rivals
- Tuesday will be the 52nd meeting all-time between Towson and Hofstra.
- With that meeting, it will continue to rank among the most games played in a series.
- Towson has five opponents it has played at least 50 times in program history
Loyola: 64 | Delaware: 64 | Drexel: 57 | Hofstra: 51 | UMBC: 50
- There are only two teams in program history Towson has played more than 60 times
- Towson vs. Delaware: 64 Meetings (Towson Leads 45-19)
- Towson vs. Loyola: 64 Meetings (Loyola Leads 34-30)

The Home Stretch
- After playing six of its first nine games on the road, the Tigers will cap the regular season with four of the next five at Johnny Unitas ® Stadium.
- Towson is 3-1 at home this spring, but 1-5 on the road. The Tigers' home loss was against No. 1 Duke back on Feb. 20.
- Every remaining home game will be the second meeting of the season against a league foe: Hofstra (April 13), Delaware (April 24) and Drexel (May 1).

So, So Close.
- Towson has played tight games all spring, with six of the 10 games decided by one goal.
- The Tigers are 3-3 in one goal affairs; and two wins have come during overtime (vs. Saint Joseph's, vs. No. 12 Loyola).
- Towson's six one-goal games are tied for the most one-goal games in the Shawn Nadelen Era (2012). Towson went 3-3 in one-goalers during the 18-game 2015 season.
- The Tigers are 25-19 all-time under Nadelen in one-goal showdowns.

The Buddy System
So far this season, Towson's feeders have been all over the field; There have been 36 different pairs of goal scorers and assisters this season.
J. Avanzato -> B. McLean: 7
R. Swain -> A. Milani: 4
R. Swain -> B. McLean: 3 | C. Wasserman -> J. Avanzato: 3
A. Stewart -> A. Milani: 3 | J. Avanzato -> A. Milani: 3
J. Avanzato -> R. Swain: 2 | A. Milani -> J. McLean: 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
A. Ducommun -> A. Milani: 1 | J. Bender -> J. Gaskins: 1 | J. Gaskins -> A. Milani: 1
B. McLean -> J. McLean: 1 | A. Stewart -> J. Avanzato: 1 | A. Stewart -> C. Wasserman: 1
C. Wasserman -> A. Milani: 1 | B. Hund -> B. McLean: 1 | A. Stewart -> R. Swain: 1
T. Montgomery -> C. Gaeger: 1 | J. Avanzato -> A. Stewart | A. Stewart -> T. Montgomery: 1
E. Ticehurst -> B. McLean: 1 | B. McLean -> T. Montgomery: 1
T. Montgomery -> R. Swain: 1 | A. Reid -> R. Swain: 1 | J. Avanzato -> A. Reid: 1
D. Martin -> E. Ticehurst | C. Gaeger -> A. Milani

It's Free Real Estate
Last weekend, Towson played its third overtime game of the year, beating No. 12 Loyola 7-6 with 2:41 seconds elapsed in bonus lacrosse.
- The Tigers are 2-1 in overtime games this season, improving to 7-6 under the command of head coach Shawn Nadelen.
- Towson's three overtime games this season are tied for the most in the Shawn Nadelen Era (2012) (and third time if you want to include the triple-overtime game against Navy in 2015).
- Since elevating to Division I, Towson has played three or more overtimes in three seasons
1989: 2-1 | 2013: 2-1 | 2021: 2-1
- Towson played back-to-back ovetime games for the first time in program history with the games at Delaware (March 20) and Loyola (March 27).

The Gauntlet
- Year in and year out Towson constructs one of the toughest Division I schedules.
- In this week's major polls, seven 2021 opponents are ranked inside the top 20
#3/#4 Duke | #4/#3 Virginia | #13/#17 Richmond | #14/#13 Drexel | #15/#15 Loyola | #16/#16 Delaware | #17/#15 Hofstra
- UMass received votes in both polls this week.
- 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.

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 55-8 in games when Towson scores double digits. When Towson's defense limits opponents to single digits, the Tigers are a whopping 73-12 in that same time after an 8-7 loss at Hofstra (April 3). On 46 occasions, the Tigers have scored in double figures while holding opponents to single digits, obviously a 46-0 record.