The Game: Towson (3-7, 2-2 CAA) vs. No. 11/12 Denver (5-4, 1-1 Big East)
When: Thurs., Apr. 13 – 7 p.m.
Where: Johnny Unitas® Stadium – Towson, Md.
Broadcast: LacrosseTV
Radio Broadcast: Towsontigers.com
Series: Denver leads 5-4 (Denver has won last four)
Giveaway: First 300 fans will receive a Goh Tigers lanyard, presented by Aspen Heights Towson
 
TOWSON, Md. – Taking a break from league play, the Towson University men's lacrosse will host #11/12 Denver on Thursday, April 13 at 7 p.m.
 
The first 300 fans in attendance will receive a Goh Tigers lanyard, presented by Aspen Heights Towson. 
 
Tickets are available for the game through the Towson Athletics Ticket Office.  For more information on tickets, interested parties can visit www.towsontigers.com, call 410-704-3330 or email dkogok@towson.edu.
 
The game will be broadcast on LacrosseTV, with Travis Eldridge and Marcus Holman on the call.  In addition, Spiro Morekas and Glenn Smith will have the call on Towsontigers.com.
 
Towson picked up an important road win on Saturday with a 10-8 victory over Hofstra to stand at 3-7 overall and 2-2 in the Colonial Athletic Association.  Denver earned a league win over then-#9 Villanova 12-6 on Saturday to be 5-4 overall and 1-1 in the Big East.  The Pioneers are ranked No. 11 in the USILA Coaches Poll and No. 12 in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.
 
This is the 10th all-time meeting between Towson and Denver.  Denver has won the last four meetings, including a 12-9 win at home on March 26, 2022, to lead the all-time series 5-4.  Towson's last win came in the 2016 NCAA Tournament First Round when the Tigers won at 2-seed Denver 10-9 on May 15, 2016.
 
Towson head coach Shawn Nadelen formerly was an assistant at Princeton under Denver head coach Bill Tierney.  Tierney will be retiring after this season, coaching his final regular season game in the Baltimore area in this contest.
 
TOWSON - 2022 CAA REGULAR SEASON CO-CHAMPION
In 2022, Towson was one of three teams who earned a share of the CAA regular season title with a 3-2 league record.  The Tigers shared the regular season title with Delaware and UMass.
 
FOUR TIGERS EARN PRESEASON ALL-CAA
Four Tigers earned 2023 Preseason All-CAA recognition in the preseason coaches poll: Colby Barsz, Kyle Berkeley, Matt Constantinides and Garrett Zungailia.
 
Barsz, a First Team All-CAA LSM last season, finished with 25 ground balls and 12 caused turnovers, including three games with multiple caused turnovers.
 
Berkeley earned Second Team All-CAA last year, leading all Towson midfielders in total points with 43 off 25 goals and 18 assists, adding 19 ground balls.
 
Constantinides was the lone faceoff man on the Preseason All-CAA Team.  Earning Second Team All-CAA and CAA All-Rookie Team last year, he had 147 faceoff victories and 86 ground balls in 2022.
 
A starter the past three seasons, Zungailia led all Towson non-faceoff players with 40 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers, being tied for fourth in the CAA in total caused turnovers last year.
 
NADELEN APPROACHING 100 VICTORIES
Towson head coach Shawn Nadelen is just one win away from his 100th at the helm of the Tigers.  Currently in his 12th season, Nadelen has a 99-80 record as Towson head coach.
   
Nadelen is looking to become the second head coach in Towson history with 100 victories.
Head Coach                Record            Years at Towson
Carl Runk                    262-191           1968-98
Shawn Nadelen         99-80               2012-pres.
Tony Seaman             99-93               1999-2011
 
TOWSON PREDICTED TO FINISH SECOND IN CAA
Towson has been predicted to finish second in the CAA preseason coaches poll.  Towson received a first-place vote and 42 points overall, only trailing Delaware, the reigning league champion, with seven first-place votes and 49 total points.
2023 CAA Men's Lacrosse Preseason Poll
Team (1st)                  Points
1. Delaware (7)              49
2. Towson (1)                42
3. Drexel                        35
4. Stony Brook               32
5. Hofstra                       23
6. Fairfield                      22
7. Monmouth                  14
8. Hampton                     7
 
BATTLING IN THE NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Towson will have a difficult non-league slate this season, scheduled to play four non-CAA teams who are ranked in the top-20 of the preseason polls, including a rematch against Virginia, ranked in the top-3 of the USILA Coaches Poll and in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.  In addition, Delaware, Saint Joseph's, Denver and Richmond were all in the preseason top-20 of each poll while Loyola stands in the top-20 through week five.
 
PROGRAM APPROACHING 500TH VICTORY
Towson, which established varsity men's lacrosse in 1959, is just eight wins away from 500 as a program.  Since the establishment under coach Billy Hooper in 1959, Towson has a program record of 495-377.
 
The Tigers are 345-271 since beginning DI play in 1980.
 
TOWSON DUO NOTCHES CAA WEEKLY AWARDS
Two Towson players earned CAA weekly honors after the team's 10-8 victory at Hofstra on March 25.
 
Goalkeeper Evan Long was the CAA Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season, notching 20 saves with just eight goals allowed.
 
Attack Ryan Schrier earned his first CAA Rookie of the Week award after tallying up three goals, including the eventual game-winner in the fourth quarter.
 
MCDONOUGH TO PLAY FOR TEAM AUSTRALIA
Connor McDonough will be competing for Australia in the 2023 World Lacrosse Men's Championship this summer in San Diego.  McDonough, a junior also formerly played for the U19 Australia Team.  His mother is from Perth while his grandparents still live in Perth.
 
Australia plays in the Blue Division along with Team USA, which will include Towson 2019 alum Zach Goodrich. The 2023 World Lacrosse Championship will be played from June 21 to July 1.
 
FOUR TIGERS SELECTED AS CAPTAINS
Towson has picked four captains for the 2023 campaign.
Brandon Hund (Sr. A/M)
--Second-ever Tiger to be a three-time captain (Zach Goodrich '19)
Reagan McNemar (Sr. D)
--2022 Joseph Ferrante Memorial Scholarship recipient
Ryan Swain (Gr. M)
--2021 All-CAA First Team
Garrett Zungailia (Gr. D)
--2023 Preseason All-CAA Team
 
SIX TIGERS PLAYING AS GRADUATES
Six Tigers have their undergraduate degree entering the 2023 campaign, including five earning their degree at Towson.
Player                         Major
Kyle Berkeley            BS - Criminal Justice
John Kiracofe            BS - Communication & Media
     (degree earned at Michigan)
Alex Reid                   BS - Business Administration
Austin Stewart           BS - Communications Studies
Ryan Swain                BS - Business Administration
Garrett Zungailia       BS - Business Administration
 
As a team, Towson earned a 3.2 grade point average during the Fall 2022 semester.
 
CONSTANTINIDES ENTERS TOP-10 IN TOWSON HISTORY IN FACEOFFS
Towson's primary faceoff man the past two years, Matt Constantinides stands 10th in program history with 288 faceoff wins.  This includes 141 wins this year.
 
Constantinides needs 35 faceoff wins to tie for ninth in program history with Tim Lucky, who had 323 wins from 1992-95.  Towson's all-time leader in faceoff wins is Alex Woodall, who had 583 from 2017-19.
 
MORIN - USILA DI TEAM OF THE WEEK
LSM Sam Morin helped Towson nearly complete a big comeback vs. Drexel, scoring the final two goals in the final minute of regulation to complete a hat trick, adding two caused turnovers in the game on March 18.
 
His performance earned him as one of 10 players on the USILA DI Team of the Week.
 
FROM THE HOME STATE....
Of the 52-man Towson roster, 24 players reside in the home state of Maryland.  This includes seven players from Baltimore County/City: James Azbill (Catonsville), Ray Glass (Perry Hall), Brian Hoskins (Baldwin), Andy Joerres (Reisterstown), Andrew Milani (Catonsville), Alex Reid (Baltimore) and Garrett Zungailia (Timonium).
 
....AND THE WEST COAST
Four Towson players hail from the western side of North America, connecting a coastline from the Yukon Territory to Mexico.
--Austin Ducommun - New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
--Bode Maurer - Kirkland, Washington
--Chop Gallagher - Portland, Oregon
--Nick DeMaio - San Diego, California
 
TIGERS IN THE PROS
Towson alumni have made their mark in the professional lacrosse ranks this past season.
PLL - Premier Lacrosse League (PLL)
NLL - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
MLL - Major League Lacrosse (MLL, now defunct)
--Ryan Drenner '17 - Cannons, PLL
       --2019, 2021 and 2022 PLL All-Star
--Zach Goodrich '19 - Cannons, PLL
       --2021 PLL All-Star, 2020 MLL Defensive Player of the Year
--Koby Smith '22 - Atlas, PLL | Philadelphia Wings, NLL
    --Member of Atlas Sixes Team
--Alex Woodall '19 - Cannons, PLL
       --2019 MLL Rookie of the Year, All-Star
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT:
Denver has three victories against then-ranked opponents: North Carolina, Ohio State and Villanova.
 
Junior midfielder Stephen Avery and senior attack JJ Sillstop stand with 19 and 18 goals respectively, each adding a trio of assists.  The quarterback of the offense is senior Richie Connell with seven goals and 15 assists. 
 
Denver stands eighth in Division I in scoring defense, allowing 9.89 goals per game.  Splitting between two goalies, junior Malcolm Kleban is the primary keeper with a 51.3% save rate and 9.61 goals allowed average while senior Jack Thompson is the backup with a 42.4% save rate and 10.36 goals allowed average.
 
Senior Alec Stathakis has taken every faceoff for Denver, winning 60.2% to stand 13th in Division I, adding 75 ground balls.
 
SERIES HISTORY - vs. DENVER
Series record: Denver leads 5-4
    --Streak: Denver has won last four
    --in Towson: Tied 2-2
    --in Denver, Colo.: Denver leads 3-2
 
First Meeting: March 19, 2000
--Towson 16-9 - Towson, Md.
 
Last Nine Meetings (latest to earliest):
Date                Location                      Result             
3/26/22            Denver, Colo.              L, 9-12
3/23/19            Towson, Md.               L, 6-7
3/24/18            Denver, Colo.              L, 10-11 (OT)
3/25/17            Towson, Md.               L, 11-12
5/15/16            Denver, Colo.              W, 10-9
3/1/09              Denver, Colo.              L, 4-9
3/2/08              Towson, Md.               W, 10-9
3/6/05              Denver, Colo.              W, 10-8
3/19/00            Towson, Md.               W, 16-9