Opening Faceoff
Towson makes its return to Johnny Unitas ® Stadium after a month away from home field on a four-game road swing. The Tigers clash with UMass in an early season heavyweight bout between league contenders.
In The National Rankings
Towson was not mentioned in the major polls this week. UMass was ranked 20th in both the USILA Coaches' Poll and the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.
The Home Again Tigers
Towson returns home victorious after a come-from-behind-win at Drexel last weekend to opener league play.
A balanced James Avanzato (19g, 18a) leads Towson with 37 points while Nick DeMaio (24g, 4a) continues as a finisher. Kyle Berkeley (12g, 12a) leads from the midfield with an ever 24 points. Luke Shilling (13g, 10a) is also north of the 20-point threshold this year.
Close defenseman Koby Smith (12ct) and defensive midfielder Reece Potter (10ct) have each caused double figure turnovers. Smith's linemates, Reagan McNemar and Garrett Zungailia, are one shy of the mark.
Matt Constantinides (73-171) had a bounce-back day at Drexel, winning 21 of his 29 draws and grabbed 16 ground balls en route to CAA Rookie of the Week honors.
Shane Brennan returned to the cage on Saturday, making 16 saves at Vidas Field to secure the win. He has 87 saves to date and carries a goals against average of 12.23 with a .503 save percentage.
Scouting the Minutemen
Red hot UMass comes to Johnny Unitas ® Stadium with a 6-3 overall record, besting Delaware 11-10 in overtime last week. UMass is riding a five-game winning streak.
Kevin Tobin (12g, 14a) leads UMass with 26 points while Gabriel Procyk (18g, 6a) has 24 to his credit. Logan Liljeberg (11g, 12a) has 23 points to his credit to round out the 20-pointers.
Caleb Hammett (100-169) paces UMass at the X with a .595 winning percentage and 67 ground balls.
Matt Knote has started all nine games in cage, making 108 saves at a .537 percentage. He carries a 10.34 goals against average into Saturday.
Towson-UMass History
Saturday will be the 18th brawl between Towson and UMass. Towson leads the all-time series 10-7, snapping a three-game slide against UMass last season with a 9-6 win in Amherst. The two league heavyweights have combined to win seven CAA titles since 2012, five of which belong to Towson, including two over the Minutemen (2015, 2017). UMass won the 2018 crown with a win over the Tigers. Towson is looking for its first home win over the Minutemen since capturing the 2017 title 9-4 at Johnny Unitas ® Stadium.
Towson-UMass By the Numbers
All-Time Series Record Towson Leads 10-7
at Towson Towson 5-3
at UMass Tied 4-4
at Neutral Sites Towson 1-0
at Unknown Sites n/a
First Meeting March 28, 1963
UMass 7, Towson 3
Last Meeting April 17, 2021
Towson 9, UMass 6
Streak Towson +1
Last Time Out vs. UMass | April 17, 2021 | Amherst, Mass. | Garber Field
Towson jumped out to a fast 4-0 lead in the first quarter and held on for a 9-6 win after a scoreless second half. Towson's defense limited UMass to just two goals in the final 30 minutes of the game, however. James Avanzato was a feeder, posting four assists while Ryan Swain hit for a hat trick. Shane Brennan made a baker's dozen saves for the Tigers in 60 minutes of action. Dillon Arrant scored a hat trick for UMass while Kevin Tobin added three points on a goal with two assists. Matt Knote stopped 10 Towson attempts. Zach Hochman won 17 of the 19 faceoffs for UMass with 13 grounders.
With a Win Saturday Towson Would...
- Improve to 2-0 in the league for the first time since the 2017, with wins over Drexel and UMass that season.
- Win back-to-back games over UMass for the first time since winning seven straight from 2013-17.
- See Towson win its second-straight game at Johnny Unitas ® Stadium, one month apart.
- Be Towson's first win over a ranked opponent since a 10-8 win over Hofstra on April 13, 2021
- Improve head coach Shawn Nadelen to 9-5 all-time against UMass.
- Be the 94th career win for head coach Shawn Nadelen.
The Long and Winding Road...
- Towson is ending a four-game road swing, which kicked off on March 11 at Saint Joseph's and ended right back in Philadelphia last weekend at Drexel.
- The Tigers went 1-3 in that stretch, including a 1-2 mark in true road games.
- The four-game road swing tied the longest road trip in the Shawn Nadelen Era (2012)
- Towson also played four-straight games in 2013, 2015, 2019, 2021 and now 2022.
- In three of those four previous seasons, Towson has won the CAA Championship.
...That Leads to Your Door
- Towson opened the season with a four-game homestand, taking on No. 16 Johns Hopkins, Mount St. Mary's, No. 1 Virginia and rv Richmond.
- The Tigers had five of their first games of the 2022 season at Johnny Unitas ® Stadium.
- Towson has not played at home since an 11-10 win over crosstown rival UMBC on March 5.
- It will be roughly 3,017,100 seconds between the finishing whistle of the UMBC game and Saturday's opening faceoff. Or 50,285 minutes if you prefer that unit of time. Or 838 hours.
On This Date: April 9
- Towson is 6-6 all-time when playing on April 9. Towson's first April 9 game was back in 1975 at Randolph-Macon.
- Towson holds a 2-3 April 9 record when playing at home.
- The Tigers are 1-1 when playing UMass on April 9 (2011, 2016).
- Head coach Shawn Nadelen is 1-0 against UMass on April 9, collecting an 11-8 win in Amherst in 2016.
All-Time vs. No. 20
- The Tigers are 4-3 all-time against teams ranked 20th in that week's USILA Coaches' Poll.
- Towson has not played a 20th-ranked foe since the 2015 campaign, collecting an 8-7 win over at Fairfield.
- Towson has never played a 20th-ranked UMass team.
- The Tigers have won their last two games against a 20th ranked foe, both one-goal wins including the aforementioned Fairfield game and a 10-9 win at Hofstra in 2012.
- Shawn Nadelen teams are 2-0 against 20th ranked opponents.
- Towson has not hosted a 20th-ranked team since April 19, 2000, a 17-15 setback against UMBC. Towson is 1-1 all-time at home against 20th ranked opponents, paired with a 20-2 win over Hofstra on April 13, 1991.
CAA Openers Under Head Coach Shawn Nadelen
- After last Saturday's 13-12 win at Drexel, the Tigers are 7-2 all-time under head coach Shawn Nadelen in CAA Openers
- Towson is 3-2 in road openers for league play.
- The Tigers are 3-1 at Drexel for the first CAA game of the season.
- Towson is 2-1 all-time against Drexel when the Tigers and Dragons meet for the CAA opener in Philadelphia.
- Last Saturday was the fourth time since 2012 the Tigers open CAA action against Drexel (2016, 2017, 2021, 2022)
- With the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020, no league games were played.
It's a Record
- In the Tigers' outing at Saint Joseph's on March 11, Towson set an NCAA record for fastest goals scored by the same team.
- First Jonathan Bender scored on a crease dunk pass from Chop Gallagher. Bender drew a dead-ball penalty with 2.9 seconds to play in the fourth quarter.
- With no faceoff following the Bender goal, James Avanzato picked the ball up at the whistle, stepping in a scored from 40 yards out, closer to midfield than the restraining box.
- Avanzato's goal stopped the clock with 0.7 seconds on the board.
- All told, just 2.2 seconds of game time passed between goals.
- The previous NCAA mark was three seconds, held by several team/mates.
Climbing the Coaching Charts
- Towson head coach Shawn Nadelen is now in his 11th season at the helm after being elevated to that position for the 2012 season.
- To date, Nadelen has posted 93 career wins and is nearing the century mark.
- Nadelen is third on Towson's all-time wins list: Carl Runk (262), Tony Seaman (99).
Shorty's Like a Melody
- With 9:37 to play in the first quarter against No. 16 Johns Hopkins, Nick DeMaio scored the Tigers' first short-handed goal since the 2015 season.
- Defenseman Koby Smith had the assist on the play.
- It was the first short-handed goal since Dan Carder scored a shorty at Navy in a double-overtime loss in Annapolis.
- That goal came on March 3, 2015, less than a month after longstick midfielder Pat Conroy also scored a shorty against Loyola.
- It had been 100 games since the Tigers scored a short-handed goal.
- DeMaio is the first offensive player in the Shawn Nadelen Era to score a short
Short-Handed Goal Scorers in Shawn Nadelen Era
- Nick DeMaio vs. No. 16 Johns Hopkins - 1st - 9:37 - Assist: Koby Smith
- Dan Carder at Navy - 3rd - 11:45 - Unassisted
- Pat Conroy vs. No. 8 Loyola - 4th - 0:17 - Assist: Joe Seider
The Top Third
- Towson University head coach Shawn Nadelen is in his 11th season at the helm of the program.
- Hired as the top man following the 2011 season, Nadelen is the 24th-longest tenured Division I head men's lacrosse in the country.
- Nadelen was one of four head coaches elevated during the 2011 offseason: Brian Brecht (Rutgers), Keegan Wilkinson (Marist) and Taylor Wray (Saint Joseph's).
Greater Baltimore is Lovely this Time of Year
- Hope you like the view from Johnny Unitas ® Stadium.
- The Tigers was home for the first four games of the 2022 season.
- Towson did not leave The U until a March 2 trip all the way over to Loyola University Maryland (a whopping four miles).
- The Tigers did leave the state of Maryland until a March 11 trip to Saint Joseph's.
- Towson's longest trip of the regular season is a jaunt to Denver on March 26.
- Towson's Feb. 26 game against Richmond was the sixth-straight home game for the Tigers, dating back to the 2021 season. Towson went 1-5 in that span.
The North Americans
Towson has representation from 17 different states and one Canadian province: Maryland (21), New York (5), New Jersey (3), California (2), Florida (2), North Carolina (2), Pennsylvania (2), Virginia (2), Connecticut (1), Colorado (1), Georgia (1), Kentucky (1), Michigan (1), Ohio (1), Oregon (1), Texas (1), Washington (1), British Columbia, Canada (1).
Class of the CAA
Since joining the CAA for the 2002 season, no program in league history has enjoyed more success than Towson University. The Tigers have racked up 70 total wins in the CAA, five more than rival Hofstra. Below is a list of the current members of the CAA and their win totals in conference games since joining the league. The Tigers have appeared in the conference title game a total of 11 times, bringing home the trophy on a league-record eight occasions.
Team: Wins (CAA Titles, Last)
Towson: 71 (8, 2019) | Hofstra: 65 (2, 2008) | Drexel: 56 (2, 2021) | Delaware: 44 (3, 2011)
UMass: 34 (2, 2018) | Fairfield: 12 (0)
CB30 Award
In the summer of 2018, Towson Lacrosse great Carl Beernink passed away. An integral part of the program's rise to dominance in the 1990s, Carl was a leader and inspiration to the program both on and off the field. This season, Garrett Zungailia will wear a CB30 badge in place of his captain's C to honor the late Carl Beernink. This annual award will be given to a Towson player who embodies the fighting spirit of Carl Beernink.
Previous CB30 Award Winners
2019 - Zach Goodrich
2020 - Koby Smith
2021 - Carson Gaeger
Wearing the C
This season, head coach Shawn Nadelen and his staff announced five student-athletes that will serve as captains for the 2022 season.
This year's captains are: Shane Brennan, Brandon Hund, Koby Smith, Ryan Swain and Garrett Zungailia.
Brennan, Hund, Smith and Swain will wear captains' Cs on their jerseys while Zungailia will have the CB30 badge in lieu of the captain's letter.
Home Cooking
Johnny Unitas ® Stadium is a tough place to play for visiting opponents. Since head coach Shawn Nadelen took over the program in 2012, Towson and Hofstra are tied for the league lead with 48.
Team: Home Record Since 2012 (as of March 23, 2022)
Towson: 48-29 | Hofstra: 48-33 | UMass: 46-26
Drexel: 42-21 | Fairfield: 40-33 | Delaware: 36-33
