TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University field hockey team is set to play Lafayette (8-5, 4-1 Patriot) Friday, Oct. 20 at 6:30 p.m. in Easton, Pa. before hosting Holy Cross (6-7, 2-3 Patriot) at the TU Field Hockey Complex Sunday at noon for Senior Day.
 
Friday's game will be streamed on ESPN+. Live stats for both games will be available on TowsonTigers.com.
 
First-year head coach Katie Gerzabek Salem returns 18 players from the 2022 roster, including leading scorer and preseason All-CAA selection Hannah McKeon and program standout Georgia Beachley, who stands ninth all-time in team history in goals scored.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Lafayette enters Friday's matchup at 8-5 overall and 4-1 in Patriot League play. The Leopards have defeated three common opponents of the Tigers in Wagner, Bucknell and Drexel this season. Top point producer for the Leopards, Lineke Spaans, leads the Patriot League with eight goals and 24 points and stands second with eight assists.
 
As of Thursday morning, Holy Cross is 6-7 overall and 2-3 in the Patriot League. The Crusaders have faced Northeastern, Wagner and Bucknell this season, taking a victory over the Seahawks among the common opponents of Towson. Leading scorer for Holy Cross stands second in the Patriot League among point leaders.
 
JOIN THE PARTY
Third-year Tiger Sarah Hatfield has earned a spot in the program record book with 16 points through 15 games this season. Totaling 29 points on thirteen goals and three assists at Towson, Hatfield ranks 28^th all-time in 39 starts. Gianna Antone has joined Hatfield and three others among all-time points leaders with 11 points on five goals and one assist this season. With 24 career points on nine goals and six assists, she ranks 39^th all-time in program history.
 
Hatfield and Antone join three other active Tigers ranked among top point producers in team history. Totaling 53 points on 19 goals and 15 assists, Beachley stands seventh all-time among point leaders in team history. Samantha Aljets ranks 12^th all-time with 44 points, logging 15 goals and 14 assists. The Tigers' top goal scorer in 2022, McKeon, is 28^th all-time in program history, totaling 29 points with ten goals and nine assists.
 
DO THE ROAR
First-year head coach Katie Gerzabek Salem and assistant coach Noelle Frost each had illustrious playing careers for the University of Maryland. Gerzabek Salem won a national championship with the Terrapins as a freshman in 2011 and collected numerous individual awards over her collegiate playing career. Frost was a three-year starting goalkeeper for the Terrapins, with appearances in the national championship in 2017 and 2018.
 
FIFTH TIME'S THE CHARM
Four seniors from last year's rotation have returned for a fifth season to help establish a strong veteran presence within the program. The four have combined to start 241 games for the Black & Gold dating back to 2019.
 
Beachley leads the charge with 74 starts, while McKeon checks in at 68. Each midfielder started all 18 games last season. Forward Samantha Aljets has made 52 starts, missing action in 2021 due to injury. Forward Gianna Antone has gotten 47 starting nods for the Tigers after a medical redshirt season in 2019.
 
YO HOME TO BEL AIR!
Four of Towson's 27 players played for C. Milton Wright High School in Bel Air, Maryland before joining the Tigers. Beachley, fifth year forward Samantha Aljets, senior Annie Keele and freshman Riley Cushman played for the Mustangs. In 2017 and 2018, C.M. Wright went 38-3, capturing the 2018 Maryland 3A State Championship and were runners-up in 2017. In 2019, Keele's senior and Cushman's freshman seasons, the Mustangs won the regional championship.
 
Beachley, the team's leading scorer two seasons ago, and Aljets, the top point producer on the 2019 and spring 2021 teams, have been teammates since elementary school and have played together for more than a decade, including eight years with the H2O club program.