HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — The Towson University women's lacrosse team will travel to Long Island, New York to face Hofstra in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play on Saturday, April 16 at 12 p.m.
The Tigers own the 26-17 edge over the Pride but have dropped the last five meetings. All three of those contests were decided by three goals or less. Towson's last win against Hofstra came on April 19, 2019, with a 13-12 decision.
Records
- Towson — 4-7 (1-1 CAA)
- Hofstra — 7-6 (1-2 CAA)
Last Time Out
Towson came out with a huge win over CAA rival Drexel in overtime, 16-15, on April 9.
After Blair Goodrich won the draw to start the overtime period, Kerri Liucci came up clutch for the Tigers on Senior Day, scoring the game-winning goal just 48 seconds to end the season.
Kaitlin and Kerri Thornton led the way for the Black & Gold in regulation, combining for seven goals. Kaitlin Thornton also dished out an assist to give both sisters four points, respectively. Kaitlin Thornton recorded a season-best three goals for her 12th career hat trick.
Lindsay Clarke added two goals and an assist while Milana Zizakovic also recorded two scores. In addition, Gabby Garrett, Paige Abbott, Sam Intrieri and Hannah Delahaye found the back of the net for the Tigers.
The Black & Gold's defensive unit was solid, limiting the Dragons to just five goals in the second half. Olivia Malamphy set a new career best with three caused turnovers while Shannon Sullivan also grabbed a career high six draw controls. Carly Merlo also came up big, with 11 saves between the pipes, her second double-digit performance this campaign.
Sullivan Named CAA Rookie Player of the Week... AGAIN!
After another week of success, Shannon Sullivan earned her second consecutive CAA Rookie of the Week selection.
Sullivan started off the week strong, tying her career-high with four ground balls against Johns Hopkins. She also added two caused turnovers in the outing. She continued to find success against Drexel, securing a career best six draw controls while picking up another ground ball.
Moving Up
Junior midfielder Blair Pearre continues to make her mark on the program.
Pearre recently became the 15th player in program history to reach 100 goals with seven scores against Elon (April 2). With three scores against Hopkins, she now ranks 14th on the top 20 scoring list, just one behind Kathleen Stout (104).
The former Under Armour All-American now has 21 career hat tricks and has scored at least two goals in 29 of 35 games at the collegiate level.
With three draw controls on Saturday, Pearre now has 142 career draw controls to move up to fifth in program history. She is now 26 behind Becky Trumbo (168).
Reaching Triple Digits
Kaitlin Thornton made history last Saturday against Drexel, becoming the 16th Tiger in program history to score 100 career goals. She reached the century mark at the 6:07 mark of the third quarter on her second tally of the game.
With three total goals, she is now tied for 15th on the top 20 scoring list, just two scores behind teammate Blair Pearre (103).
Clearing Success
Towson has been efficient on clearing attempts this season. The Black & Gold have now stayed flawless in five outings this season:
- Mount St. Mary's (17-for-17)
- Loyola (16-for-16)
- Vanderbilt (17-for-17)
- Johns Hopkins (17-17)
- Drexel (19-19)
The team is 193-of-215 on clear attempts through 12 games for an 89.8 percent success rate to rank 25th in the country and third in the CAA.
Schedule Strength
The Tigers have eight teams currently ranked or receiving votes in the ILWomen/IWLCA poll on their schedule. Towson has fallen to then-No. 9 Loyola (Feb. 23), then-No. 10 Michigan (Feb. 27), (RV) Penn State (March 15), (RV) Vanderbilt (March 21), No. 12 James Madison (March 30) and No. 22 Johns Hopkins (April 6). The Tigers defeated Georgetown 9 (March 26), who has received votes in the weeks after meeting head-to-head.
The team defeated (RV) Drexel (April 9) in overtime, 16-15, for their first win over a team mentioned in the poll.
First Year Phenoms
Freshmen Halley Koras, Milana Zizakovic and Shannon Sullivan have made an immediate impact in their first years in the Black & Gold.
Koras is currently third on the team with 23 goals. She has had seven multi-goal games this season including four hat tricks.
Zizakovic is fifth on the team in both goals (13) and assists (5). She ranks second on the team with 41 draw controls, securing a career high of seven draws against Georgetown.
On defense, Sullivan ranks top five in three categories: draw controls( 16-4th), ground balls (17-5th) and caused turnovers (8-5th).
Preseason Praise
In late January, the CAA announced Rayna Deltuva and Blair Pearre both received Preseason All-CAA honors while Olivia Malamphy earned honorable mention recognition.
The All-CAA Preseason nod marks the second of Pearre's career while the honor is the first for Deltuva and Malamphy.
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 was named to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List for the second consecutive season.
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. 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.
132 & Counting
After picking up her 125th win against George Mason last season, head coach Sonia LaMonica recently earned her 130th win against Georgetown (March 26). She ended 2021 with 127 career wins and currently stands with a 124-83 record at Towson.
In the previous 11 seasons with Sonia LaMonica at the helm, the Tigers have 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.
Oh Captain, My Captain!
Rayna Deltuva and Kaitlin Thornton were chosen by the coaching staff to lead the Tigers for this season. The two lone graduate students on the roster also served as captains during the 2021 season as well.
Thornton currently is tied for 15th on the all-time goals list with 101.
Strong Island
Six members of the Towson team hail from Long Island, New York. The Thornton sisters and Liucci twins are from Stony Brook, New York and attended Ward Melville High School. Freshmen Shannon Sullivan (Wantagh) and Katie McCormick (Manorville) are also Long Island natives.
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 and freshman Milana Zizakovic who both hail from the province of Alberta.
Sister Sister
The 2022 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.
The Thorntons have combined for 168 goals and 68 assists for 236 points. The Liucci sisters have compiled 49 goals and 14 assists for 63 points.
Scouting The Pride
Hofstra went on a midseason skid, dropping four decisions in a row from March 18 to April 2. All four teams at the time were ranked or receiving votes in the ILWomen/IWLCA poll. The team rebounded to defeat Delaware, 16-11, before most recently falling to (RV) Drexel, 18-7.
Katie Whelan leads the Pride's offense with 31 goals and 14 assists for 45 points. Shannon Boyle has brought in 66 draw controls while also adding 16 caused turnovers and scooped up 24 ground balls.
Looking Ahead
After going up against Hofstra, Towson will take the following week off from competition. The team will get back on the field to host William & Mary on Wednesday, April 27 at 5 p.m. The Tigers will then end the regular season with a short trip to Delaware on Saturday, April 30 for a 12 p.m. game.
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.
