TOWSON, Md. — The Towson University women's lacrosse team is set to open its 2022 spring season at Tiger Field on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 1 p.m. Admission is free to the public.
This will mark the second consecutive season, and third time overall, the Tigers have opened a campaign against The Mount. The Black & Gold came out with the 10-7 win in the last meeting on Feb. 13, 2021. The Tigers also defeated the Mountaineers to start the 2009 campaign.
In the previous 11 seasons with Sonia LaMonica at the helm, the Tigers have won 119 games and earned spots in the NCAA Tournament seven times, most recently last season. Towson has won seven Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) tournament titles since 2005, including four under LaMonica.
Schedule Strength
The Tigers have a tough schedule in front of them this spring, as they are set to play five teams ranked in the Preseason ILWomen/IWLCA poll. Towson will go up against No. 10 Loyola (Feb. 23), No. 12 James Madison (March 30), No. 16 Drexel (April 9), No. 20 Johns Hopkins (April 6), No. 23 Michigan (Feb. 27) and No. 25 Penn State (March 15).
Preseason Praise
In late January, the CAA announced Rayna Deltuva and Blair Pearre both received Preseason All-CAA honors in addition to an honorable mention for Olivia Malamphy.
The All-CAA Preseason nod marks the second of Pearre's career while the honor is the first for Deltuva and Malamphy.
In the order of finish, the Tigers were voted to end the season in third place with 26 points. James Madison was picked to finish first in the league with five first place votes and 35 total points. Drexel was slotted to end in second, with two first place votes and 32 points. Rounding out the poll was Hofstra (21), Elon (15), Delaware (10) and William & Mary (8).
The All-CAA teams and order of finish was voted on by the conference's head coaches.
Tewaaraton Award Watch List
Blair Pearre has been named to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List for the second consecutive season. The Tewaaraton Foundation made the announcement on Feb. 10.
Since 2001, the Tewaaraton Award has been awarded to the most outstanding American college lacrosse men's and women's players across all three divisions of NCAA lacrosse. The watch list highlights 51 early contenders for the 2021 Tewaaraton Award. Additions to the list will be announced on March 11 and April 1, before the field will be narrowed to 25 men's and 25 women's nominees on April 21. Five men's and five women's finalists will be announced in early May and the Tewaaraton Award recipients will be chosen after the conclusion of the collegiate lacrosse season.
127 & Counting
Head coach Sonia LaMonica picked up her 125th win against George Mason last season (April 4). She ended 2021 with 127 career wins and an 119-76 record at Towson.
Returning Starters
12 of 18 Tigers that started at least one game for the black & gold in the 2021 spring will be returning to the field in 2022.
Towson is retuning plenty of veteran leadership on defense as Rayne Deltuva, Olivia Malamphy and Erin Williams are the only current Tigers that started all 18 games for the team last season.
Oh Captain, My Captain!
Rayna Deltuva and Kaitlin Thornton were chosen by the coaching staff to lead the Tigers for the upcoming campaign. The two lone graduate students on the roster also served as captains during the 2021 season as well.
Fresh Faces
Sonia LaMonica added a group of six freshmen to the team prior to the spring who will look to make an immediate impact. Shannon Sullivan (Midfield), Milana Zizakovic (Midfield), Mia Rehkemper (Attack), Katie McCormick (Midfield), Emily King (Midfield) and Halley Koras (Attack) will don the black & gold for the first time this season.
Transferring In
The coaching staff also added one transfer, Lindsay Clarke (Attack), from Oregon. During her freshman year on the west coast, Clarke amassed six goals and six assists for a total of 12 points in 11 games played.
Staying Local
Of the 32-woman roster, a whopping 18 student-athletes call Maryland home. Rayna Deltuva (Manchester), Molly Lynch (Forest Hill), Sara Tyssowski (Finksburg), Paiton and Paige Abbott (Mount Airy), Mia Rehkemper (Catonsville), Jenna DiPeso (Forest Hill), Lindsay Clarke (Parkton), Blair Pearre (Pikesville), Blair Goodrich (Chester), Carly Merlo (Reisterstown), Emily King (Monrovia), Lindsay Posner (Monkton), Lindsey Marshall (Columbia), Halley Koras (Lutherville), Sarah Rhoads (Westminster), Olivia Malamphy (Crofton) and Erin Williams (Parkton) all represent their home state.
Oh, Canada
Two Tigers join the team from our neighbors to the north, Canada as well, in senior Julia Porter (High River, Alberta) and freshman Milana Zizakovic (Alberta).
Sister Sister
The 2021 squad features three sets of sisters, including two sets of twins. Seniors Kerri and Nicole Liucci as well as sophomores Paiton and Paige Abbott are twins while sisters Kaitlin and Kerri Thornton round out the group.
Scouting The Mount
The 2021 NEC Champions, Mount St. Mary's is looking to repeat their success from last spring. The team finished with a 14-3 overall mark, only dropping decisions to Towson (10-7), then-No. 18 Navy (10-8) and then-No. 7 Duke (19-3) in the NCAA Tournament. Before falling to the Blue Devils, the Mountaineers won 16 consecutive contests.
The Mount returns their top-scorer, Alayna Pagnotta for a fifth year. She scored 43 goals as well as dishing out seven assists for 50 total points to rank fourth on the team. Zoe Hulburt also made the decision to come back for one final lap after pacing Mount St. Mary's in ground balls (45) and caused turnovers (15).
Looking Ahead
After a week off, the Tigers will make the short trip on Wednesday, Feb. 23 to face No. 10 Loyola at 3 p.m. The team will play one more game in the month of February as they return to Tiger Field to welcome No. 23 Michigan on Feb. 27 at 1 p.m.
Tigers in the Community
For the 7th consecutive year, the department exceeded 10,000 hours of community service to the Greater Baltimore region, finishing with 11,162 hours of community service in the 2018-19 academic season. Towson ranked #1 nationally for community service and won the 2018 National Championship for Community Service through the Helper Helper NCAA Team Works Competition. Towson had a 97% participation rate, attended 118 community service opportunities and volunteered with 19 organizations. The Tigers won the 2018 Volunteer of the Year Award from Susan G. Komen of Maryland.
