TOWSON, Md. — The Towson University women's lacrosse team will play their nonconference contest of the season against No. 22 Johns Hopkins on Wednesday, April 6 at 6:30 p.m.
The Blue Jays own the 15-10 all-time edge over the Tigers and won the last meeting in 2019, 10-3. Prior to that decision, the Black & Gold had won the previous three meetings.
Records
- Towson — 4-6 (1-1 CAA)
- Johns Hopkins — 6-6 (0-3 B1G)
Last Time Out
Towson used a 7-0 third quarter run and a career-best seven goals from junior Blair Pearre to earn its first CAA victory of the season, beating Elon 20-8 at Tiger Field on, April 2.
Kerri Thornton had her fourth hat trick of the season and added an assist, while Gabby Garrett scored a goal and had a career-best three assists. Ten Tigers scored goals and 11 produced points. All 27 players who dressed received playing time.
The Towson defense held Elon scoreless for 19:31, including the entire third quarter. Starting goalie Carly Merlo made seven saves, while starting defenders Olivia Malamphy, Erin Williams, Blair Goodrich and Shannon Sullivan as well as defensive midfielder Nicole Liucci combined for nine ground balls and five caused turnovers. Gillian Curran, who leads Elon in goals and assists, did not have a point.
Sullivan Named CAA Rookie Player of the Week
After a stellar performance in Towson's 20-8 win over Elon, Shannon Sullivan earned the first Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Rookie of the Week award of her career. Against the Phoenix, she set career highs with four ground balls and three caused turnovers. The defender also added a draw control. Earlier in the week, Sullivan recorded two ground balls and a caused turnover at James Madison (March 30).
Moving Up
Junior midfielder Blair Pearre continues to make her mark on the program.
Pearre became the 15th player in program history to reach 100 goals with seven scores against Elon. She now ranks 15th on the top 20 scoring list, just one behind Kim Wilson (101).
The former Under Armour All-American has 20 career hat tricks and has scored at least two goals in 28 of 33 games at the collegiate level.
Pearre also moved into seventh in program history with 131 career draw controls. She is now 10 behind Stephanie Howell (141).
Reaching Triple Digits
With 97 career goals, Kaitlin Thornton is just three scores away from becoming the 16th Tiger to reach the century mark in program history.
With 111 career points, Pearre is just one of two active Tigers, along with Kaitlin Thornton (138) to surpass the century mark.
Clearing Success
Towson has been efficient on clearing attempts this season. The Black & Gold have been perfect on clears three times this slate against Mount St. Mary's (17-for-17), Loyola (16-for-16) and Vanderbilt (17-for-17).
The team has been solid the past two games, going 18-22 against Elon and 19-20 at James Madison.
The team is 157-for-179 on clear attempts through 10 games for an 87.7 percent success rate.
Schedule Strength
The Tigers have a tough schedule this spring, as they have eight teams currently ranked or receiving votes in the ILWomen/IWLCA poll on their schedule. Towson fell to then-No. 9 Loyola (Feb. 23), then-No. 10 Michigan (Feb. 27), (RV) Penn State (March 15), (RV) Vanderbilt and No. 12 James Madison. The Tigers defeated Georgetown, who has received votes the past two weeks.
The team will to face No. 22 Johns Hopkins and (RV) Drexel (April 9).
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 tied for second on the team with 22 goals. She has had seven multi-goal games this season including four total hat tricks.
Zizakovic is fifth on the team with 10 goals and tied for fourth with five assists. She ranks second on the team with 37 draw controls, securing a career high of seven draws against Georgetown.
On defense, Sullivan has recorded 10 draw controls, grabbed 12 ground balls and caused six turnovers.
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. 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 were announced on March 11 and April 1. 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.
131 & 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 123-82 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 ranks 16th on the all-time goals list with 97. With three more scores she will become the 17th Tiger to score at least 100 goals in program history.
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 158 goals and 66 assists for 224 points. The Liucci sisters have compiled 48 goals and 14 assists.
Scouting the Blue Jays
Johns Hopkins faced eight opponents ranked in the ILWomen/IWLCA poll. They went 2-6, defeating then-No. 19 Penn (10-8) and then-No. 15 Drexel (11-6). The Blue Jays most recently fell to then-No. 8 Maryland, 17-6.
Shelby Harrison paces the team with 25 goals and 44 draw controls. Georgia Esmond leads the team in both points (32) and assists (19).
Looking Ahead
Towson will then get back into CAA play, hosting Drexel on Saturday, April 9 for Senior Day. The game will also be streamed on LSN.
The team will also celebrate Senior Day against the Dragons, honoring their 11 graduating student-athletes. The list includes Rayne Deltuva, Molly Lynch, Kerri Thornton, Carly Merlo, Kerri Liucci, Nicole Liucci, Julia Porter, Kaitlin Thornton, Sarah Rhoads, Erin Williams and Kamryn McNeal.
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.
