TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University field hockey team is prepared to make the first road trip of the young 2023 season. First, the Tigers will face the Saint Louis Billikens on Friday, September 1 at 1 p.m. ET. On Sunday, the Black & Gold will square off with the Bellarmine Knights at Louisville's Trager Stadium at noon ET.
 
Sunday's game will be streamed on the BU Knights Sports Network, available via TowsonTigers.com. Live stats will be available for both games on TowsonTigers.com.
 
First-year head coach Katie Gerzabek Salem returns 18 players from the 2022 roster, including leading scorer and preseason All-CAA selection Hannah McKeon and program standout Georgia Beachley, who enters the season ninth all-time in team history in goals scored.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Saint Louis enters Friday's matchup at 0-2 with a 3-1 loss against Bellarmine in the season opener and a 3-2 shootout loss to Bryant. The Billikens were selected to finish tied for seventh in the 2023 Atlantic-10 Field Hockey Preseason Poll, voted on by the league's head coaches.
 
Bellarmine stands at 1-1 on Thursday, nabbing a 3-1 win over Saint Louis in their season opener, before taking a 3-1 loss to Northeastern on Sunday. The Knights will face Saint Francis today at 3 p.m. The Knights were selected to finish seventh of eight teams in the Mid-American Conference (MAC), voted on by the league's head coaches.
 
THREE'S COMPANY
Three veteran returners have cemented themselves in the record book among top point scorers in program history after the 2022 campaign. Totaling 52 total points with 19 goals and 14 assists, Beachley stands seventh all-time among point leaders in team history. Aljets ranks 17^th all-time with 36 points, logging 12 goals and 12 assists. The Tigers' top goal scorer in 2022, McKeon is 35^th all-time in program history, totaling 25 points with nine goals and seven assists.
 
DO THE ROAR
First-year head coach Katie Gerzabek Salem and assistant coach Noelle Frost each had illustrious playing careers for the University of Maryland. Gerzabek Salem won a national championship with the Terrapins as a freshman in 2011 and collected numerous individual awards over her collegiate playing career. Frost was a three-year starting goalkeeper for the Terrapins, with appearances in the national championship in 2017 and 2018.
 
FIFTH TIME'S THE CHARM
Four seniors from last year's rotation have returned for a fifth year to help establish a strong veteran presence within the program. The four have combined to start 198 games for the Black & Gold dating back to 2019.
 
Midfielders Beachley and McKeon have started 61 games apiece, including all 18 games last season. Forward Samantha Aljets has made 42 starts, missing action in 2021 due to injury. Forward Gianna Antone has gotten 34 starting nods for the Tigers after a medical redshirt season in 2019.
 
YO HOME TO BEL AIR!
Of Towson's 27 rostered players, four played for C. Milton Wright High School in Bel Air, Maryland before joining the Tigers. Beachley, fifth year forward Samantha Aljets, senior Annie Keele and freshman Riley Cushman all played for the Mustangs. In 2017 and 2018, C.M. Wright went 38-3 capturing the 2018 Maryland 3A State Championship and were runners-up in 2017. In 2019, Keele's senior and Cushman's freshman seasons, the Mustangs won the regional championship.
 
Beachley, the team's leading scorer two seasons ago, and Aljets, the top point producer on the 2019 and spring 2021 teams, have been teammates since elementary school and have played together for more than a decade, including eight years with the H2O club program.