BALTIMORE – For the second straight year, the Towson University men's lacrosse team and Loyola battled in an overtime thriller, with the Tigers falling to the Greyhounds 11-10 to end the three-game win streak.
 
In a game filled with back and forth play, Towson (3-2) equalized with a Joaquin Villagomez goal with 3:11 left in regulation.  With both sides having chances in overtime, Loyola's (2-3) Remi Reynolds scored with 0.6 seconds left to give the home team the win.
 
Both teams came into the game receiving votes in the USILA Coaches Poll and Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.
 
Key Stats:

• The game was close to even in most facets, with Towson having a slight edge in shots 48-46, ground balls 37-30 and faceoffs 13-10.  Loyola had 18 saves to Towson's 14.
• Four Tigers finished with two goals each, with Nick DeMaio tallying two goals, two assists, two ground balls and two caused turnovers.  Chop Gallagher had a goal and two assists.
• Despite the loss, Luke Downs had 14 saves and two ground balls with 11 goals allowed in 63:59 of play.  On defense, Joe Petro had five ground balls.
• Matt Constantinides went 12-for-19 on faceoffs, scooping seven ground balls and scoring a goal.
• For Loyola, Davis Lindsey led all players with four goals, adding an assist, while Remi Reynolds had the game winner along with two ground balls and a caused turnover.  The win went to Luke Staudt in cage with 18 saves, four ground balls and 10 goals allowed.

How It Happened:

• Matt Constantinides won faceoffs to give Towson the early offensive possessions.  Nick DeMaio emerged from behind the cage and scored inside the lower corner less than a minute in.
• Keeping the pressure on, Luke Downs got a save on a quick Loyola clear, then Loyola failed its next clear attempt.  The other way, Chop Gallagher went behind the cage and passed in front to Bode Maurer for the shot and score, pushing Towson up 2-0 with 10:40 to play in the first.
• Towson had offensive possessions, but Loyola short sticks forced three turnovers on intercepted passes towards the middle.  On a 90-second possession, Evan James got close to the goal circle and scored off the pass from Lindsey Davis to pull Loyola within one.  Another long possession for the Greyhounds was also stopped with two Downs saves, but a third chance led to a goal and a flag.  Loyola scored on the man-up possession and on the subsequent possession to lead 4-2 with 4:21 left in the first, leading Towson to call timeout.
• The Tigers kept the pressure on with the ride as DeMaio forced a turnover, leading to a Gallagher shot, but Luke Staudt made the save.  Loyola held the lead 4-2 after one.
• After a back-and-forth possession, Mikey Weisshaar fired a shot which slammed the post.  Loyola took back possession and scored the other way for a 5-2 advantage.
• Loyola kept holding on defense, then Towson kept the pressure on the ride to get more chances.  Towards the end of the shot clock, DeMaio found Maurer for the backhand shovel shot and score, then Constantinides won a faceoff and raced to the cage for the score.  Next possession, Weisshaar got past his defender from the left side and scored on the run to tie the game at 5-5 with 7:04 to go in the first half.
• After holding off a long Loyola possession, Towson's shots kept getting saved while Loyola also could not break the Towson defense.  The other way, Jamison Gaskins sent a pass to Joaquin Villagomez for the rocket shot and score with 25 seconds left in the half.  Towson led 6-5 at the break.
• Into the third, a crease violation gave the ball back to Loyola.  Lindsey scored the other way for the home team to tie the game 75 seconds into the half start.  Towson looked to get the goal back on transition chances, with Joe Petro having an attempt on cage, but Luke Staudt made a save.  After a Downs save and a Towson turnover, Loyola rolled off two quick goals to take an 8-6 lead with 9:15 to go in the third.
• Downs made a big save on a close shot by Davis to get the ball back to Towson for offense.  Following a man-up situation, Weisshaar raced towards the middle and scored on a laser under the crossbar to pull Towson within one.
• Towson nearly survived a possession with seven Loyola shots, with Downs saving two, but the final attempt was scored to return the home team's lead to two.  Towson quickly got that goal back as Gallagher got off his defender with a spin and high-to-low shot.  Next possession, DeMaio scored on a ground ball shot off the pass from Gallagher to tie the game at 9-9, the eventual end of third quarter score.
• Towson entered the fourth man-up but did not score, then held off Loyola on a man-down, but Loyola kept possession and scored to retake the lead.  The physical play continued as both sides traded possessions for several minutes: Towson had a possession of over three minutes, continued by two Loyola saves and a shot off the crossbar, leading to a shot clock violation.
• The Towson ride continued to hound Loyola as Villagomez forced a turnover on an intercepted pass.  27 seconds later, he cut across and scored to tie the game at 10-10 with 3:11 to play.
• The Tigers won the faceoff and peppered away, three times getting a shot on cage but was saved by Staudt.  Loyola cleared and attacked, missing four times, with Colby Barsz backing up the last shot to end the possession.  Towson and Loyola went into overtime tied 10-10.
• Towson got the first chance into overtime as the Tigers got a couple of close range shots, but were stopped twice by Staudt.  Loyola got its chance, ended by Ray Glass off a timeout with a caused turnover.  Weisshaar's shot the other way was blocked, then Remi Reynolds got across, shot and scored with 0.6 seconds left in the overtime period to give Loyola the win 11-10.

Inside the Numbers:

• This is the third time Towson-Loyola went into overtime in the last four meetings.  Towson won the first one, a 7-6 win on Mar. 27, 2021.
• Matt Constantinides moved into fourth in Towson history in career faceoff wins with 414, surpassing Scott Mullins, who had 411 from 1983-86, and sixth in career ground balls with 232, passing Ben DeFelice, who had 231 from 2001-04.
• Luke Downs set a new career-high in saves with 14, surpassing his 13 at Saint Joseph's last Friday.
• Nick DeMaio has earned at least four points in three of his last four games and has a 15-game point streak.  Mikey Weisshaar extended his point streak to 13 straight games.

Next Game:

• Towson returns home to host Baltimore County rival UMBC on Saturday, March 2 at noon.
• To purchase tickets or if you have any questions regarding tickets, visit https://am.ticketmaster.com/towson/ or call the Towson Athletics ticket office at 410-704-4501.