Opening Faceoff

It's another berth in the CAA Championship as Towson ran past UMass 18-10 Thursday night. Towson and Delaware will meet for the second time as the Tigers look to avenge a one-goal loss earlier this season.

Towson was not mentioned among the vote getters in the major polls. Delaware received votes in the USILA Coaches' Poll but was not mentioned in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.s

Towson earned its way into the CAA title match with an 18-10 win over UMass, limiting the Minutemen to just three goals in the second half, including a 21-minute scoring drought.

Nick DeMaio paced Towson with seven points on five goals and two assists while Kyle Berekely tagged UMass for three goals and one helper. Luke Shilling was a feeder with three assists.

Towson's defense caused 11 turnovers, including three UMass miscues by Garrett Zungailia. 

Freshman Matt Constantinides won 12 of his 29 faceoffs, grabbing eight ground balls. 

Shane Brennan made seven saves while the Tigers' went three for six on the power play.

Delaware reaches the CAA Championship game for the first time since 2011while riding a four-game winning streak past Drexel (19-6) on Thursday.

JP Ward hit for eight points, spliting four goals and four assists. Mike Robinson posted a sock trick with six goals. Mark Bieda dished out five assists.

Matt Kilkeary made nine saves while allowing just four goals. Logan Premtaj won 12 of his 16 faceoffs with six ground balls.

Towson-Delaware CAA Tournament History

Towson and Delaware will meet for the 67th time in series history and clash in the CAA Tournament for the first time since May 2, 2019, an 18-11 Towson win over the Blue Hens in Amherst. Towson has won the last two postseason meetings against Delaware, taking a 9-8 overtime decision in 2018 in Amherst and the 2019 meeting. Saturday will be the sixth meeting in the CAA Tournament between Tigers and Blue Hens. Towson holds a 3-2 edge. The teams are an even 1-1 in the title game.

All-Time Series Record Towson Leads 45-21

at Towson Towson 22-9

at Delaware Towson 21-12

at Neutral Sites Towson 2-0

at Unknown Sites n/a

First Meeting May 16, 1961

Delaware 6, Towson 3

Last Meeting April 16, 2022

Delaware 11, Towson 10

Streak Towson -3

It was a furious second-half rally for Towson, which came up one goal short, falling 11-10 at Delaware Stadium. The Tigers out-scored the Blue Hens 7-5 in the final 30 minutes, including a 5-2 advantage in the final frame. Kyle Berkeley hit for three goals and one assist while Luke Shilling issued three points with a goal and two helpers. James Avanzato and Jonathan Bender posted two goals apiece. Mark Bieda added a five-point day for Delaware with three goals and two assists. JP Ward had three points with a goal and two assists. Shane Brennan made 13 saves for the Tigers while Matt Kilkearey stopped 17 Towson shots.

- Win the program's ninth CAA Championship.

- Collect its sixth league championship in the Shawn Nadelen Era (2012).

- Snap a three-game slide against the Blue Hens.

- Earn the CAA's automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Tournament.

- Be Towson's first league title since 2019.

- Lift Towson's CAA Championship record over Delaware to 2-1.

- Improve Towson's neutral-site CAA Tournament record to 8-0.

- Be the 97th career win for head coach Shawn Nadelen.

- 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.

- 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).

- 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 11-3 all-time in CAA Tournament games under Nadelen's direction.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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 96 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 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.

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).

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)

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.

2019 - Zach Goodrich

2020 - Koby Smith

2021 - Carson Gaeger

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.

Playing for the home crowd is always a pleasure for any team. But the Tigers have had success on the road in the Shawn Nadelen Era as well. Since taking over the program in 2012, the Tigers have racked a 37-37 (.500) record in road games.

- Not only has the roster size gotten larger this year, but the student-athletes that comprise have gotten bigger as well.

- Since Shawn Nadelen took over the program in 2012, the Tigers have gotten bigger and heavier.

- As researched by former Media Relations Interns Zoë Winslow and Ashley Cottrell, below are the average heights (in inches) and weights (in pounds) for the last 11 Towson University men's lacrosse teams.

2012: 71.2 / 182.3

2013: 71.4 / 182.3

2014: 71.5 / 182.7

2015: 71.5 / 184.2

2016: 71.4 / 183.9

2017: 72.0 / 187.9

2018: 72.0 / 187.2

2019: 72.4 / 190.3

2020: 72.2 / 187.7

2021: 71.89 / 185.1

2022: 72.1 / 184.3

- With a defense as heralded as Towson's, it's not a surprise to followers of the team

that the Tigers have lots of success when the offense and defense pair well.

- Since head coach Shawn Nadelen took over in 2012, the Tigers are 61-8 in games when Towson scores double digits.

- When Towson's defense limits opponents to single digits, the Tigers are a whopping 79-12 in that same time after topping Fairfield 12-8 on the road on April 23, 2022.

- On 51 occasions, the Tigers have scored in double figures while holding opponents to single digits, obviously a 51-0 record.