TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University men's lacrosse team saw Evan Long make 15 saves and Tiger freshmen combine for eight goals as the Black & Gold defeated Fairfield 11-7 on a cold Saturday afternoon.
 
At 7-6 with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Towson (2-6, 1-1 CAA) broke away with four goals in a span of 3:19 to secure its first Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) win of the year vs. Fairfield (3-6, 1-1 CAA).
 
Key Stats:

• Towson's defense, anchored by Evan Long in goal, had 15 saves on 22 shots on goal and forced Fairfield to fail seven clears.  Nine of Long's 15 saves came in the first half.  The Tigers finished with 15 caused turnovers, including Reagan McNemar and Garrett Zungailia having two each.
• Towson had a 48-33 ground ball edge in the game.
• On the offensive side, eight of Towson's 11 goals were scored by freshmen.  Joaquin Villagomez tallied up three goals, an assist, three ground balls and a caused turnover while Ryan Schrier scored three goals on four shots, also adding two ground balls and a caused turnover.  Mikey Weisshaar earned two goals and two assists, having a hand in all four of Towson's goals in the first quarter, adding two ground balls.
• Matt Constantinides took all faceoffs for Towson, winning 14-of-22 and scooping nine ground balls.
• For Fairfield, Bryce Ford tallied a hat trick and three ground balls.  Will Snyder had the loss in goal with 10 saves and 11 goals allowed.

How It Happened:

• Both sides had to face the elements early with a morning rain and overcast skies setting up a cold early afternoon.  The game saw six combined turnovers before either team got on the board.
• Mikey Weisshaar got Towson's first goal on a narrow angle shot inside the left post from the right side off a pass from Josh Webber.  They pair connected again less than a minute later off passing around the arc as Weisshaar scored off a pass from Webber to make it 2-0 Towson with 7:28 left in the first.
• Fairfield got its first goal off a Bryce Ford unassisted goal with 4:10 left in the quarter.  Towson countered in the following minute as Joaquin Villagomez took the pass from Weisshaar and scored on a low, heated shot.
• With 1:38 left in the opening quarter, Weisshaar found Nick DeMaio on the doorstep for the goal.  Fairfield scored with nine seconds left to make it 4-2 entering the second.
• Towson's defense held down Fairfield for nearly nine minutes into the second quarter, with Evan Long making four saves in that span.  The Stags broke the drought with the second goal by Max Paparozzi with 6:07 in the second.  Long added two more saves down the stretch as Towson held its one-goal lead.
• After a clear, DeMaio scored his second goal while falling down near the goal circle.  Matt Constantinides won the next faceoff as Towson called timeout to set up a play.  Joaquin Villagomez scored off a dodge on a high-to-low shot to give Towson a 6-3 advantage into halftime.
• The third quarter started similarly to the previous two with much back-and-forth play while the scoreboard stayed the same.  Towson forced turnovers on three straight Fairfield clear attempts but could not convert on offense.
• Jack McKenna scored for Fairfield with 7:55 to go in the third to bring the visitors within two.  After Towson held on a man-down situation, Ryan Schrier scored his first collegiate goal off a feed from Chop Gallagher, firing straight away for the score.  Towson led 7-4 with 5:05 left in the third.
• Action continued to be physical as Fairfield took advantage of unsettled situations, scoring with 3:26 from Ford to pull back within two.  Towson had the lead 7-5 into the final quarter.
• Another quick shot off a clear for Fairfield turned into a goal as Will Consoli scored off a pass from Daniel Wilson in the midfield to make it 7-6 Towson with 12:33 to play.
• Towson's defense held the lead with Long's 15^th save and Joe Petro causing a turnover on an extra-man opportunity for Fairfield.  With 6:44 left, Towson clung to a 7-6 advantage.
• A Weisshaar saved shot ricocheted to Schrier near the goal circle.  The freshman picked up the ball and scored on the dunk.  After an exchange of possessions, Webber notched a goal off a spin off a defender and score on the rip as Towson took a three-goal lead.
• Constantinides won the following two faceoffs as Towson built up the advantage.  Villagomez scored on a hard shot under the crossbar followed by Schrier adding another on the pass from Villagomez as the Tigers led 11-6.
• Ford got a goal back for Fairfield as Towson held the rest of the way.  Caused turnovers by Schrier and Colby Barsz effectively sealed the game as Towson took the victory 11-7.

Inside the Numbers:

• Ryan Schrier earned his first goals as a Tiger.  It is the second straight game when a Towson player had a hat trick for their first collegiate goals, with Sam Morin having his first three collegiate goals last week vs. Drexel.
• Each Nick DeMaio and Joaquin Villagomez have scored goals in their last three games.
• 13 different Tigers had a caused turnover in the game.
• This is Evan Long's second 15+ save game of the year, having 20 saves at Virginia on March 11.
• Towson improves to 8-1 all-time against Fairfield.

Next Game:

• Towson's next two games will be on Long Island, beginning with a noon contest at Stony Brook on Saturday, April 1.

- TowsonTigers.com –