TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University field hockey team is prepared to host its first Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) game at the TU Field Hockey Complex this season versus the William & Mary Tribe on Friday, Sept. 15 at 3:00 p.m. Following that, the Tigers host the #20 UAlbany Great Danes on Saturday, Sept. 16 at 1:00 p.m.
 
Both games will be streamed on FloLive. Live stats will be available 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 stands ninth all-time in goals scored in team history.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
William & Mary was selected to finish third in the CAA preseason poll, voted on by the league's head coaches. The Tribe enter Friday's matchup at 1-2 with a win over #12 Wake Forest on Sept. 1. William & Mary fell to Virginia and James Madison in their other two contests this season.
 
UAlbany enters the weekend at 3-2 with a win over common opponent of the Tigers, Hofstra, who they'll will face later this season. The Great Danes breached the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division I National Coaches Poll this week, landing at #20 on the list. UAlbany entered the season as the unanimous favorites to win the America East conference, voted on by the league's head coaches. The head coach for the Great Danes, Phil Sykes, served as the first assistant for two seasons at Towson from 2001-2002.
 
JOIN THE PARTY
Third-year Tiger Sarah Hatfield has earned a place in the program record book with eight points through her first five games the season. Her 21 total points, ten goals and one assist, rank 44^th all-time at TU over 29 starts. She joins three other active Tigers among top point producers in team history.
 
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 37 points, logging 12 goals and 13 assists. The Tigers' top goal scorer in 2022, McKeon is 31^st all-time in program history, totaling 28 points with ten goals and eight 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 207 games for the Black & Gold dating back to 2019.
 
Midfielders Beachley and McKeon have started 64 games apiece, including all 18 last season. Forward Samantha Aljets has made 42 starts, missing action in 2021 due to injury. Forward Gianna Antone has gotten 37 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.