Opening Faceoff
It's Win or Go Home season for the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) as the second-seeded Tigers head to Philadelphia for the 2022 CAA Men's Lacrosse Championship, hosted at Drexel University. Towson squares off with UMass, a rematch of the Tigers' 12-9 win on April 9.

In The National Rankings
Towson was not mentioned among the vote getters in the major polls. UMass was in the receiving votes column for both the USILA Coaches' Poll and the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.

The Second-Seeded Tigers
By virtue of tiebreakers in a logjam at 3-2 in the CAA, Towson will be the number two seed in this year's Tournament.

Towson's offense is coming off its largest output since late February, scoring 14 times against Hofstra. James Avanzato (29g, 23a) leads the Tigers with 52 points with Kyle Berkeley (21g, 17a) close behind with 38 points. Nick DeMaio (30g, 7a) has 37 points after a six-point day on Saturday.

Faceoff specialist Matt Constantinides ended league play with a bang, winning 19 of his 32 draws with seven ground balls. He went 76-131 (.580) in CAA games with 46 ground balls.

Three Tigers have 14 caused turnovers: Koby Smith, Reece Potter and Garrett Zungailia. Reagan McNemar and Colby Barsz have 11 apiece.

In net, Shane Brennan has made 143 saves with a .526 save percentage. He carries an 11.69 goals against average in the to CAA Tournament, including an 11.00 GAA in CAA games.

Scouting the Third-Seeded Minutemen
Another 3-2 team in the league, UMass enters this week's action as the three seed, winning its last two CAA games of the year (13-9 vs. Hofstra, 13-7 vs. Drexel).

Kevin Tobin (25g, 19a) and Logan Liljeberg (21g, 19a) are each above the 40 point threshold. Gabriel Procyk (25g, 7a) is the only other Minuteman about 30 points.

Caleb Hammett has been the top faceoff player in the league, winning 166 of his 270 chances (.615) and grabbing 109 ground balls along the way.

Matt Knote has played all but six minutes in goal for UMass. He is credited with 158 saves against 498 total shots. Knote has a 10.54 goals against average and sits 10.69 in CAA games.

Towson-UMass CAA Tournament History
Death, Taxes, Towson versus UMass in the CAA Tournament. The Tigers and Minutemen meet for the sixth time in the CAA Tournament since UMass joined. Thursday will be the third semifinal meeting between the teams and first since 2012. Towson is 3-2 against the Minutemen in the Tournament. Two of Towson's three wins have been at home, with 2015 title win at Fairfield. UMass's wins are both in Amherst.

Towson-UMass By the Numbers
All-Time Series Record Towson Leads 11-7
at Towson Towson 6-3
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 9, 2022
Towson 12, #20 UMass 9
Streak Towson +2

Last Time Out vs. UMass | April 9, 2022 | Towson Md. | Johnny Unitas ® Stadium
A four-goal burst across the third and fourth quarters was the difference as Towson toppled No. 20 UMass 12-9 at home in the Tigers' first home CAA contest of the year. Towson had a balanced day with nine point getters, including five from James Avanzato (5g, 2a). Kyle Berkeley contributed four points with a hat trick and one assist. Shane Brennan made 16 saves in the win. Mike Tobin notched four points, including a trio of assists while Logan Liljeberg (1g, 2a) and Kevin Tobin (2g, 1a) added three points. Caleb Hammett won 13 of the 23 faceoffs for UMass.

With a Win Thursday Towson Would...
- Advance to the CAA Championship game for the first time since 2019
- Push its winning streak over UMass to three for the first time since seven straight 2013-17.
Improve to 4-1 in the league for the first time since 2019.
- Improve the Tigers to 4-2 all-time against UMass in the CAA Tournament.
- Be Towson's first neutral site win since grabbing the 2019 CAA Championship over Drexel in 2019 in Amherst, Massachusetts.
- Improve head coach Shawn Nadelen to 10-5 all-time against the Minutemen.
- Be the 96th career win for head coach Shawn Nadelen.

Against the Field
- The CAA regular season was a tight race all year.
- Three teams finished 3-2. Delaware is the top seed by virtue of tiebreakers.
- Towson went 2-1 against the other three teams in the Tournament, best #3 UMass and #4 Drexel, but falling to #1 Delaware.
- Delaware also went 2-1, beat Towson and Drexel, but falling to UMass.
- UMass went 2-1 against this field, edging Delaware in overtime and besting Drexel. UMass fell to Towson.
- Fourth-seeded Drexel went 2-3 in the league, with all three teams in the field beating the Dragons, including Towson and Delaware at Vidas Field.

Let's Make More History
- The Tigers will look to make program history this weekend; Towson's men's lacrosse team has never won a CAA Championship at Drexel.
- Towson has lifted the trophy eight times in total.
- Four titles have come at home in Towson, Maryland.
- The remaining four titles were won in Newark (2005), University Park (2013), Fairfield (2015) and Amherst (2019).

On This Date: May 5
- On the day the country of Mexico celebrates its victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862, the Tigers hold an 8-7 overall record.
- The Tigers are 1-1 all-time on May 5 under head coach Shawn Nadelen, besting Drexel in 2016 but falling to UMass in the 2018 title round.
- The Tigers are 4-2 all-time on May 5 since joining the CAA in 2002.

CAA Tournaments Under Head Coach Shawn Nadelen
- CAA Tournament Success {Handshake Emjoi} Shawn Nadelen's Tigers
- The Tigers have won five CAA Championships since Shawn Nadelen took over the program in 2012.
- The Tigers broke through for the first time in nearly a decade, besting Penn State in Happy Valley in 2013.
- Towson won three straight titles from 2015-17 and again in 2019 in Amherst, Massachusetts.
- The Tigers are 10-3 all-time in CAA Tournament games under Nadelen's direction.

Shots, Shots, Shots, Shots, Shots
- Junior attackman Nick DeMaio now holds the program's single-season shot record with 140 attempts.
- He surpassed Joe Seider's 2016 mark of 137.
- DeMaio set the mark with efficiency, scoring on four of his seven total shots on April 30 against Hofstra.
- Seider happened to be present that day as the 2017 Final Four team was honored at half.

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 95 career wins and is nearing the century mark.
- Nadelen is third on Towson's all-time wins list: Carl Runk (262), Tony Seaman (99).

Towson Lacrosse x Lax Sports Network
- Towson men's lacrosse and Lax Sports Network will continue to enjoy the partnership the organizations have fostered over the years.
- This spring, Towson will appear on LSN four times as the CAA Game of the Week: Feb. 11 vs. Johns Hopkins, Feb. 19 vs. Virginia, April 23 at Fairfield, April 30 vs. Hofstra.

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 73 total wins in the CAA; Hofstra is the next-closest team. 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: 73 (8, 2019) | Hofstra: 67 (2, 2008) | Drexel: 58 (2, 2021) | Delaware: 47 (3, 2011) | UMass: 36 (2, 2018) | Fairfield: 13 (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 leads the way with 49 home wins in that span.

Team: Home Record Since 2012 (as of April 30, 2022)
Towson: 49-30 | Hofstra: 48-35 | UMass: 47-27 | Drexel: 43-22 | Fairfield: 40-35 | Delaware: 37-34