TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University men's lacrosse team earned its spot in the upcoming Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Tournament with a 15-10 upset victory over No. 15/13 Delaware to close out the regular season.
 
Towson (6-8, 5-2 CAA) needed a victory over Delaware (10-4, 6-1 CAA) or a Hofstra win over Stony Brook tonight to secure a berth in the upcoming CAA Tournament in Newark, Delaware.  (updated) Towson, picking up the 4-seed in the CAA Tournament, will now rematch against 1-seed Delaware on Thursday, May 4 at 5:30 p.m. for the semifinal round.
 
Towson jumped out to an early 6-2 lead in the opening 10:18 of the game, pushing that advantage to six at the halftime break.  Delaware outscored Towson 4-0 to pull to within two in the final period, where Towson went on a 4-0 run in the first 5:20 to seal the victory.
 
Towson enters the CAA Tournament having won its last four league games.
 
Key Stats:

• Towson outshot Delaware 47-35 in the game plus had 14 saves to Delaware's eight.  Towson had a strong advantage from the faceoff-X with Matt Constantinides winning 18-for-28, earning 13 ground balls, a caused turnover and a goal.
• Nick DeMaio led Towson's offense with four goals while Kyle Berkeley notched two goals and three assists.  Mikey Weisshaar and Joaquin Villagomez each had two goals, with the former adding an assist.
• On the defensive end, Evan Long earned the victory with 14 saves and 10 goals allowed.  Garrett Zungailia aided with three caused turnovers and three ground balls, holding Delaware's leading scorer, Tye Kurtz, to no goals.
• For Delaware, JP Ward led the Blue Hens with three goals and an assist.  The loss went to Matt Kilkeary, who had eight saves and 15 goals allowed.

How It Happened:

• The action started high-paced under the overcast skies.  Delaware scored 6-vs-4 just under two minutes in, countered by Matt Constantinides winning a faceoff and scoring on the run.  Delaware got the goal back a minute later, then Josh Webber scored on a low shot to event up the score at 2-2 with 10:21 to go in the first.
• Webber's goal started a run for Towson, started with a man-up chance converted by Nick DeMaio on a straight-away shot.  35 seconds later, Mikey Weisshaar got off a pick and scored on a low shot to push Towson's lead to two.
• Towson continued to attack and added to its lead.  Ryan Swain picked up a second chance opportunity and scored off a roll from behind the cage, then Kyle Berkeley added another off a restart from a dodge and Towson was up four.  Evan Long had a couple of close range shots saved, but Delaware connected in the final seconds of the first to make it 6-3 Towson after one.
• Following another quick Delaware goal to begin the second, Towson again countered with Berkeley shooting from the hip straight away for the goal.
• In the minutes following, DeMaio added his second as he spun towards a defender and scored on the high-to-low shot.  Long saved a Tye Kurtz shot to send Towson back to offense; Andrew Milani netted a goal on a low shot to push Towson up five.  Following a long Delaware possession including a turnover against the Blue Hen ride, Reece Potter got across on the clear as Joaquin Villagomez got the drop off and score to make it 10-4 Towson with 5:02 left in the half.
• Delaware got a goal back, then Ryan Schrier prevented another chance with a turnover on the ride.  DeMaio found his spot with a right to left shot to score.  Towson led 11-5 at the half.
• Delaware picked up a man-up chance to begin the third quarter and scored.  For the next 13 minutes, Delaware scored another goal with Towson's defense holding the lead.  The Blue Hens added two more in the closing 1:30 of the period as Towson led 11-9 after three.
• Weisshaar picked up a ground ball off a saved Schrier shot and scored in the first minute of the fourth quarter.  Colby Barsz forced a turnover as Towson drew a man-up chance, where Alex Reid got the pass on the doorstep and scored.  Garrett Zungailia forced the next turnover as Villagomez converted the other way from Weisshaar as Towson took a 14-9 lead into the final ten minutes.
• The Tigers added another insurance goal as Berkeley scored on a man-up chance.  After Delaware scored with seven minutes left, Long had four more saves in the rest of the game, including three in the span of a minute, to seal Towson's 15-10 victory.

Inside the Numbers:

• Towson earns its first victory over a ranked opponent this season.
• Reigning CAA Offensive Player of the Week Kyle Berkeley earned his second straight game with at least five points, having five goals and an assist last week at Monmouth.
• Matt Constantinides moved into eighth all-time in Towson history with 343 career faceoff wins. He also came one ground ball shy of his season-high, winning 14 ground balls vs. Loyola on March 1.
• Garrett Zungailia earned his first three caused turnovers game of the season and third of his career.
• Nick DeMaio has had at least four points in eight games this year.
• Evan Long earns his seventh game this season with double digit saves.

Next Game:

• Towson takes on Delaware in Newark on Thursday, May 4 at 5:30 p.m. for the CAA semifinal round.

- TowsonTigers.com –