TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University field hockey team is hosting Rider at the TU Field Hockey Complex Wednesday, Sept. 20, at 3:30 p.m. On Friday, Sept. 22, the Tigers head to Philadelphia to face the Drexel Dragons in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play at 4 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 team history in goals scored.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Rider enters Wednesday's game at 2-4 overall with wins over Central Michigan and Georgetown. The Broncs have faced two common opponents the Tigers will play later this season in CAA competition, Monmouth and Drexel, both of which the Broncs lost.
 
Drexel comes into Friday's matchup at 5-3 overall with three wins over foes the Tigers have faced in the early part of the season. The Dragons have wins over Bucknell (4-0), App State (3-0) and UAlbany (4-3, SO) in a shootout. Drexel lost to Monmouth in the Dragons' first CAA game of the season.
 
JOIN THE PARTY
Third-year Tiger Sarah Hatfield has earned a place in the program record book with 12 points through her first seven games played the season. Her 25 total points, twelve goals and one assist, rank 36^th all-time at TU over 31 starts. Gianna Antone has joined Hatfield and others in the rankings with nine points, four goals and one assist, this season. Her 22 total points over 39 starts rank 41^st all-time in program history.
 
Hatfield and Antone join three other active Tigers ranked among the 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. Samantha 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 215 games for the Black & Gold dating back to 2019.
 
Midfielders Beachley and McKeon have started 66 games apiece, including all 18 last season. Forward Samantha Aljets has made 44 starts, missing action in 2021 due to injury. Forward Gianna Antone has gotten 39 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.