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Now Loading: Men's Lacrosse
Kyle Berkeley vs #20 UMass
Pat Stewart
9
UMASS UMASS 6-4, 1-1 CAA
12
Winner TOWSON TOWSON 5-6, 2-0 CAA
UMASS UMASS
6-4, 1-1 CAA
9
Final
12
TOWSON TOWSON
5-6, 2-0 CAA
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
UMASS UMASS 2 2 2 3 9
TOWSON TOWSON 4 2 3 3 12

Game Recap: Men's Lacrosse | | John Stark

Men’s Lacrosse Knocks Off #20 UMass in Home Return

TOWSON, Md. – Playing at home for the first time in over a month, the Towson University men's lacrosse team improved to 2-0 in league play, besting rival University of Massachusetts 12-9 Saturday afternoon at Johnny Unitas Stadium

Towson (5-6, 2-0 CAA) picked up its second-straight Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) win of the year. James Avanzato registered a five-point day with three goals and two assists. Midfielder Kyle Berkeley hit for a four point effort with a hat trick and one assist. Six other Tigers aided in the team win with one goal apiece. Shane Brennan tied his season-best with 16 saves in net.

UMass (6-4, 1-1 CAA) saw a five-game heater come to a conclusion. Brothers Kevin and Mike Tobin accounted for seven of the 15 points for UMass. The former scored twice with one assist while the latter notched three helpers with one goal. Matt Knote made 12 saves in net for UMass. Faceoff specialist Caleb Hammett went 13-of-23 at the X with nine ground balls.

How it Happened
  • The Tigers struck first as Austin Stewart shook off his defender and scored from 12 yards out three minutes into the game. UMass countered four minutes later on a Matt Weigan goal to tie the game 1-1.
  • Towson set out on a three-goal run over a two and a half minute stretch. Ryan Swain hit on a feed from Berkeley, followed by an Avanzato strike on the power play with Shilling on the dish. Berkeley rounded out the run with a roll dodge on the pole, sticking his shot far-side pipe.
  • UMass scored the final goal of the opening quarter on a James Caddigan tally with Mike Tobin on the assist at 2:11 of the period.
  • The Tigers pushed their lead back out to three at 5-2 as Nick DeMaio faked a roll dodge and went low-to-high on the shot.
  • Procyk scored with 9:58 to play in the half to make it a two-goal game once again, but Chop Gallagher extended the lead back three, sniping a top-shelf shot for a 6-3 advantage. The Minutemen pulled back with two with just 4.4 seconds left in the quarter on a Logan Liljeberg marker on a Mike Tobin feed.
  • Just over two minutes into the fresh half, Berkeley scored his second of the day for another three-goal advantage, once again powering past the UMass pole with 12:52 left in the third.
  • The Minutemen threatened with back-to-back tallies from Kevin Tobinat 8:18 and 7:00 of the third, getting assists from brother Mike and Liljeberg, making it a 7-6 Tiger lead.
  • Over the next 10 minutes, the Tigers scored four times and held UMass off the board. Luke Shilling scored on the doorstep with an Avanzato feed to start the run at 6:24, followed by Berkeley's third of the day for his third hat trick of the year. Avanzato scored back-to-back goals, including a fast-break from faceoff man Matt Constantinides just 10 seconds into the fourth quarter to put Towson up 10-6. Avanzato's second-straight came at 11:11 for Towson's 11th goal of the day and an 11-6 lead.
  • Minuteman Aidan Kaminska scored with 8:08 to play, ending the four-goal Towson run. Senior Alex Reid hit a crease-side dunk on the man-up with Avanzato feeding from behind for a 12-7 Tiger lead at 5:09.
  • UMass scored two more goals in the final five minutes of the game, once from Procyk and once from Mike Tobin, but the Tigers held on for the 12-9 win. Brennan made three saves in the fourth quarter to preserve the Tigers' second-straight victory.
Behind the Numbers
  • Towson accounted for nine goals from starters, including hat tricks from Avanzato and Berkeley. The former led the game with five points on three goals and two helpers while the latter finished with four points with one assist.
  • Brennan made 16 saves for a second-straight game, equaling his total from last Saturday's game at Drexel. The fifth-year senior stopped nine UMass shots in the first half with another seven in the second half.
  • Towson out-shot UMass 45-39, including 25 attempts en route to the 6-4 halftime lead. Towson played small ball, putting more than half its total shots on cage.
  • Constantinides made the faceoff X a 50-50 game, winning 10 of the 23 draws. Counterpart Caleb Hammett won 13 chances with a game-high nine ground balls.
  • UMass out-groundballed the Tigers 38-32, largely due to the faceoff differential. Tiger defender Garrett Zungailia grabbed five ground balls. All told, Towson forced eight turnovers, with rookie Sam Morin dislodging the ball twice.
  • Towson's 12 goals against UMass are the second-most goals the Tigers have scored against the Minutemen, one shy of the 13 scored in the 2010 CAA Tournament clash. It is the most Tiger goals against UMass in the Shawn Nadelen Era (2012). Nadelen won his 94th career game.
  • Towson improved to 2-0 in CAA play for the first time since 2019. It was Towson's second-straight win at Johnny Unitas Stadium, coming over a month apart.
  • Saturday's result was the Tigers' first top 20 win of the 2022 season and first second best No. 17 Hofstra 10-8 on April 13, 2021.
  • Towson improved to 5-3 all-time against teams ranked 20th in the most recent USILA Coaches' Poll. It marks Towson's third-straight win over a 20th-ranked team. It was Towson's first home win over a 20th-ranked opponent since the 2000 campaign.
  • The Tiger improved to 7-6 all-time when playing on April 9. Towson is a level 3-3 in home games on this date. The Tigers are 2-1 when playing UMass on April 9, including a 2-0 mark under Nadelen.
Up Next for Towson
  • The Tigers continue CAA action next week with a day trip to Newark, Delaware.
  • Towson and the University of Delaware clash at Delaware Stadium on Saturday, April 16. Opening faceoff is set for noon.
  • Towson will look to avenge two regular season losses against the Blue Hens last season.
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