TOWSON, Md. – Coming off a disappointing 8-6 loss to St. Joseph's earlier in the week, the Towson University women's lacrosse team jumped out to a 10-goal lead in the first half and cruised to a 17-10 victory over Central Michigan Saturday afternoon at Tiger Field.
 
Six Tigers scored at least two goals with Blair Pearre notching her 27^th career hat trick. Milana Zizakovic tied career-highs in points (six) and draw controls (seven). Veterans Lindsey Marshall and Gabby Garrett also scored twice as did freshmen Valerie Thompson and Luca DeMaio.
 
The Tigers (4-2) led 7-0 after 15 minutes of play and held Central Michigan (1-4) scoreless for the first 17:52 of the game. Towson had running clocks on two occasions in the first half with leads of 11-1 and 12-2.
 
"We wanted to come out and take control of the game early," Towson head coach Sonia LaMonica said. "Capitalizing on our opportunities was also part of our message. I was happy with our shooting percentage in the first half (12-for-22). We finished how we are capable of finishing and that was great to see."
 
Towson won 22-of-31 draw controls with Zizakovic, Marshall and Pearre combining to win 16 on the circle.
 
Four freshman scored goals for Towson. In addition to Thompson ad DeMaio, Ocea Leavy and Savannah Safchuck scored their first career goals.
 
"I am always thrilled to get our younger players into the mix to get them experience because nothing compares to games," LaMonica added. "It was awesome to hear the bench roaring when they scored. That is always a joy as a coach."
 
Records: 

• Towson – 4-2
• Central Michigan – 1-4

 
How it Happened: 

• Towson scored five unassisted goals in the first 7:12 to take control. On the first possession of the game, Zizakovic gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead. She added another to make it 3-0. Marshall, Lindsay Clarke and Pearre also found the back of the net during the run.
• Towson closed out the opening quarter with assisted goals. First, Pearre found Thompson for a 6-0 lead with 6:29 remaining then with 1:50 on the clock, Zizakovic fed Pearre.
• Goals by Halley Koras and Garrett gave the Tigers a 9-0 advantage less than a minute and a half into the second quarter.
• After Central Michigan scored its first goal, Towson quickly countered for a 10-goal lead. Garrett scored left-handed at the 9:22 mark. Marshall won the ensuing draw and fed DeMaio who found the back of the net 10 seconds later to give the Tigers an 11-1 lead.
• DeMaio scored her second goal, via free position, for a 12-2 advantage. The Tigers led 12-3 at halftime.
• Central Michigan never got closer than seven goals. With the score 13-6, Towson went on a 4-1 run. Three of those goals were scored by freshman. Leavy scored her first career-goal on a free-position shot with 30.7 seconds left in the third quarter. Safchuck had a highlight reel behind the back goal with 11:34 remaining. Thirty-seven seconds later Thompson scored unassisted.
• Zizakovic found Pearre for her fourth assist with 8:45 left for a 17-7 lead.

Inside the Numbers: 

• Zizakovic leads Towson in goals (16), is tied with Clarke for the team lead in assists (nine) and ranks second in draw controls (22).
• Jenna DiPeso appeared in her first game of the season, almost 365 days since suffering a torn ACL at UMBC on March 9, 2022.
• This was the first meeting between the schools. The Chippewas started its women's lacrosse program in 2016.

Key Stats:

• In addition to 27 hat tricks in 46 career games, Pearre has scored at least two goals on nine other occasions.

Next Game: 
Towson is off until visiting Penn State on Tuesday, March 14.