TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University men's lacrosse team nearly pulled off another comeback victory in less than a week's time, almost overcoming a six-goal deficit but falling to No. 11/12 Denver 12-10 on Thursday night.
 
Towson (3-8) was down 6-0 early in the second quarter to Denver (6-4), using Matt Constantinides faceoff victories to claw back into the game.  Towson pulled to within one late in the third and fourth quarter, but Denver held in the final minutes to win.
 
This is Towson's fourth defeat by one or two goals this season, including its last three losses.
 
In the pregame, Towson honored Denver head coach Bill Tierney, coaching in his final season with the Pioneers.  Towson head coach Shawn Nadelen was an assistant under Tierney for three seasons at Princeton.
 
Key Stats:

• Towson outshot Denver in the game 39-32, including 32-17 after the first quarter.  Denver had the edge in saves 10-7, with the Pioneers notching half of those saves in the fourth quarter.
• Nick DeMaio notched a hat trick, adding an assist and two ground balls.  Joaquin Villagomez finished with two goals, an assist and a trio of ground balls.
• Towson split up the goalkeepers: Evan Long had the loss with eight goals allowed and five saves in the first half.  Luke Downs took over in the second half, having four goals allowed and a pair of saves.
• Matt Constantinides won 16-of-25 faceoffs, helping the team win 16-of-26 in the game, winning 16 of his final 22 draws.  The sophomore added six ground balls and a goal.
• For Denver, JJ Sillstrop netted five goals, with three coming in the second half.  Malcolm Kleban had the win in goal with 10 saves and 10 goals allowed.

How It Happened:

• Paced by winning the first four faceoffs, Denver shut out Towson in the opening quarter with a 5-0 run, with five different Pioneers scoring goals.
• Denver added another from a sixth goal-scorer in the opening minutes of the second quarter.  Towson quickly countered with Joaquin Villagomez emerging from behind the cage to score on a shot over the goalkeeper's shoulder with 13:25 left in the second.
• The Tigers held off a man-down situation as Josh Webber ran down the clock on offense to get Towson back at full strength.  With 12 seconds on the shot clock, Webber ran towards the cage and scored on the sprint.
• Denver got a goal back as Towson looked to chip away.  Nick DeMaio connected on a shot under the crossbar, then Matt Constantinides won the next faceoff and scored on a sprint to the goal.  Towson had pulled to within 7-4 with 4:20 left in the half.
• JJ Sillstrop scored with 2:18 to go in the half, then Towson got it back with a low laser from Mikey Weisshaar to make it 8-5 Denver at the break.
• Following a Towson goalkeeper change and over five minutes of back-and-forth play, Towson broke the second half's stalemate with 9:14 left in the third off Kyle Berkeley making a small turn and shot for the score.
• Denver got the lead back to three a minute later, then Towson dominated the rest of the quarter, adding another pair of goals.  DeMaio spun off a defender to score inside the left post, then later, Ryan Swain got the ball to Villagomez, who shot through a double team for the score as Towson was within one at 9-8 after three.
• Denver scored two goals in the opening 2:12 of the fourth quarter to rebuild the lead to three.  DeMaio ended the mini-run with a dazzling, one-handed behind-the-back shot on the doorstep.
• As Towson looked to get back, the Tigers drew a man-up chance with just over six minutes left.  DeMaio found Ryan Schrier for the straight away shot and score as the Tigers again got to within one.
• Towson could not bridge the final gap.  Denver scored with 3:12 left and took advantage of a couple of Towson penalties to help run out the clock and win 12-10.

Inside the Numbers:

• Sophomore Matt Constantinides has surpassed the career 300-faceoff mark, now having 304 in his career.  He has won over 50% of faceoffs in each of his last six games.
• Nick DeMaio earns his fourth game with at least three goals this season.
• Nick DeMaio, Joaquin Villagomez and Josh Webber have earned at least a point in the last six games.
• This is the second game this season where Towson played Evan Long in the first half in goal and Luke Downs in the second half.

Next Game:

• Towson has a quick turnaround, hosting Hampton for Senior Day on Saturday, April 15 at noon.
• For tickets, interested parties can visit www.towsontigers.com, call 410-704-3330 or email dkogok@towson.edu.