NEWARK, Del. — The Towson University women's lacrosse team is set tto finish out the regular season at Delaware on Saturday, April 30 at 12 p.m.
The Blue Hens own the 31-22 all-time edge over the Tigers. The Black & Gold have won the last four meetings between the two programs however, dating back seven seasons. The close 6-5 decision on March 18, 2015 is the only time head coach Sonia LaMonica has fallen to Delaware.
Records
- Towson — 7-7 (4-1 CAA)
- Delaware — 5-10 (2-3 CAA)
Last Time Out
In its last home contest of the season, Towson earned the 12-5 win over Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) foe William & Mary.
The Tigers started the game with a 6-0 run to take a strong lead. The team held the Tribe scoreless for the entire first quarter and did not allow a goal until the 6:36 mark of the second.
The Black & Gold steadily built on their advantage, not letting the score come within less than six goals during the second half.
Blair Pearre paced the Tigers with three goals while Kerri Thornton, Gabby Garrett and Halley Koras all chipped in two scores a piece. Kerri Liucci, Milana Zizakovic and Lindsay Clarkealso tallied goals.
Carly Merlo led the defense with 10 saves, her third double-digit save total of the season. Erin Williams and Shannon Sullivantopped the stats with five ground balls each to tie and set their respective career highs. Williams also secured three caused turnovers to tie her season best.
CAA Tournament Berth: Clinched
Towson has clinched their spot in the 2022 Women's Lacrosse CAA Tournament. Drexel is the only other team to reserve their spot, with a 4-1 conference record.
As the Black & Gold defeated the Dragons earlier in the season in overtime, 16-15, the Tigers do own the head-to-head tiebreak over the Dragons for the No. 1 seed in the tournament.
The 2022 Women's Lacrosse CAA Tournament will be hosted by Drexel at Vidas Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Semifinals will take place on Friday, May 6, with the Championship to follow on Sunday, May 8.
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 William & Mary, she now ranks 12th on the top 20 scoring list with 108 career goals. She is now 14 scores behind Andi Raymond (122).
The former Under Armour All-American, now has 22 career hat tricks and has scored at least two goals in 31 of 37 games at the collegiate level.
With five draw controls on Wednesday, Pearre now has 154 career draw controls to remain fifth in program history. She is now just 14 behind Becky Trumbo (168).
Reaching Triple Digits
Kaitlin Thornton made history 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.
She is tied for 15th on the top 20 scoring list with 101 career goals, four scores behind teammate Blair Pearre (108).
Clearing Success
Towson has been efficient on clearing attempts this season. The Black & Gold have now stayed flawless in five outings through 13 contests:
- 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 231-of-259 on clear attempts through 14 games for an 89.2 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 was receiving 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.
Zizakovic Earns CAA Rookie of the Week Nod
Milana Zizakovic was named the CAA Rookie of the Week on April 18 following the Tigers' win over Hofstra in overtime, 11-10.
The freshman matched her career best of three goals against the Pride, which she previously set against Loyola (Feb. 23). She also scooped up one ground ball in the outing.
The Alberta, Canada native is the only freshman to start every game this season. Zizakovic has scored in all but four games this season and racked up 2+ scores five times.
First Year Phenoms
Freshmen Halley Koras, Milana Zizakovic and Shannon Sullivan have made an immediate impact in their first years in the Black & Gold.
All three freshmen have garnered at least one CAA Rooke of the Week award and have earned four total.
Koras is currently third on the team with 25 goals. She has had eight multi-goal games this season including four hat tricks.
Zizakovic is fifth on the team in goals (17) and tied for fourth in assists (6). She ranks second on the team with 43 draw controls, securing a career high of seven draws against Georgetown.
On defense, Sullivan ranks top five in three categories: draw controls (22-4th), ground balls (24-4th) 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.
134 & 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 126-83 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.
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 173 goals and 69 assists for 242 points. The Liucci sisters have compiled 53 goals and 15 assists for 68 points.
Scouting The Blue Hens
After starting off conference play with a pair of losses, Delaware picked up two consecutive wins against William & Mary and Elon before falling in its most recent outing to No. 11 James Madison, 14-11.
The Blue Hens have seen production from many different players as Riley Gillian (39 points), Danika Swech (27 goals) and Delaney McDaniel (25 assists) all top the roster in different statistical categories. Madison Hranicka also plays an important role as she leads the team with 27 ground balls and 19 caused turnovers.
Looking Ahead
Towson will go onto the 2022 Women's Lacrosse CAA Tournament hosted by Drexel at Vidas Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The semifinals will begin on Friday, May 6, with the championship game to follow on Sunday, May 8.
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.
