The Game: No. 12/15 Towson (13-3, 7-0 CAA) at No. 4 Syracuse (11-5, 3-1 ACC)
When: Sun., May 12 – 7:30 p.m.
Where: JMA Wireless Dome – Syracuse, N.Y.
Broadcast: ESPNU/WatchESPN
Radio Broadcast: Towsontigers.com
Series: Syracuse leads 9-3 (Towson has won last one)
 
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) champion Towson University heads to central New York to challenge 4-seed Syracuse on Sunday, May 12 at 7:30 p.m. for the NCAA Tournament First Round.
 
This contest will be broadcast on ESPNU with Drew Carter and Ryan Boyle on the call.  In addition, Spiro Morekas with have the radio call on towsontigers.com live from the JMA Wireless Dome.
 
Towson earned its ticket into the NCAA Tournament as the CAA Tournament champion, knocking off Delaware 15-6 in the title game to be 13-3 overall and 7-0 in the Coastal Athletic Association.  Syracuse, an at-large into the NCAA Tournament, fell to Duke 18-13 in the Atlantic Coast Conference Semifinals in Charlotte, North Carolina to be 11-5 overall and 3-1 in its league.
 
Towson has been nationally ranked the last six weeks, standing at #12 in the USILA Coaches Poll and #15 in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.  Syracuse is at #4 in each poll.
 
This is the 13th meeting between Towson and Syracuse, with the Orange leading the all-time series 9-3.  Last meeting on May 21, 2017, Towson defeated Syracuse 10-7 in the NCAA Quarterfinals in Newark, Del.
 
The winner advances to the NCAA Quarterfinal round in Towson on May 19 against the victor of Denver-Michigan.
 
TOWSON - CAA TOURNAMENT CHAMPION
With one of the most dominant performances in league history, Towson won its ninth CAA Tournament title to earn a spot into the NCAA Tournament.
 
Towson earned the title at home with an 18-8 semifinal win vs. Drexel and a 15-6 title game victory vs. Delaware.  Towson's 33 goals is just one shy of the school record for goals in a CAA Tournament, having 34 in 2019.
 
Towson is also the CAA regular season champion, going 7-0 in league play.
 
Nick DeMaio was named CAA Most Outstanding Player with 11 assists and three goals.  Bode Maurer (11 goals), Colby Barsz (three CT) and Luke Downs (17 saves, two wins) were also selected to the CAA All-Tournament Team.
 
TOWSON - LONGEST WINNING STREAK SINCE 1971
Towson has won its last nine games, the longest winning streak for the program in its Division I history.   Towson has won all its games since March 16.
 
The Tigers previously had eight-game winning streaks in 2001 and 2004.  Towson's longest-ever winning streak came in 1970 and 1971, when the Tigers won their final 10 games of the season in both years.
 
COLBY BARSZ - DRAFTED INTO THE PLL
Colby Barsz will be the next Tiger in the Premier Lacrosse League, being selected 24th overall by the Utah Archers in the PLL Draft on May 7.
 
Barsz is the fourth-ever Tiger taken in a PLL Draft and first since Koby Smith was taken fifth overall by Atlas in 2022.  Two players were drafted in 2019: Zach Goodrich third overall to Chrome and Alex Woodall fourth overall to the Whipsnakes.
 
TOWSON - NATIONALLY RANKED
Towson stands at #12 in the USILA Coaches Poll and #15 in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.  Towson's rankings on April 1 were its first national rankings since 2020 as the Tigers have been ranked for six straight weeks.
 
Towson is the only ranked CAA team in the top-20 and stands with victories over Saint Joseph's, ranked #13 in both polls, and Delaware, receiving votes in the media poll.
 
All three of Towson's losses have come against ranked opponents or those receiving votes: Johns Hopkins, Virginia and Loyola.
 
TOWSON ACCLAIMED IN 2024 CAA POSTSEASON HONORS
The Towson University men's lacrosse earned an undefeated season in league play, leading the Tigers to be well represented in the 2024 Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) postseason awards.
 
Nick DeMaio has earned CAA Offensive Player of the Year while Shawn Nadelen has been honored as the CAA Coach of the Year.
 
In addition, seven Tigers have been recognized as All-CAA players, matching Towson's total last year.  Seven ties the most amount of All-CAA players for Towson since nine Tigers were All-CAA in 2017.  Four Tigers are First Team All-CAA, the most in the league this year and tying the most for Towson in a single season since six Tigers were First Team All-CAA in 2017.
 
DeMaio is Towson's first CAA Offensive Player of the Year since Brendan Sunday in 2019.  The San Diego, California native is an All-CAA player for the second straight time, being Second Team in 2023.  The graduate student attack is tied for the most points in the CAA, earning 66 points off 29 goals and 37 assists.  He was the USA Lacrosse Magazine DI National Player of the Week on Feb. 20 and is a three-time CAA Offensive Player of the Week, having seven games with at least five points this season.
 
Nadelen is the CAA Coach of the Year for the third time, also being honored in 2016 and 2022.  The 13th year head coach has the Tigers at 11-3 this year, tying the winningest season since 2017.  Towson earned its first undefeated CAA campaign since 2004, the CAA's first undefeated CAA season since UMass in 2018 and the program's fifth league regular season title since 2016.
 
Barsz, the 2024 Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, earns his third First Team All-CAA in the last three seasons.  Often tasked with the opponent's top offensive player, the senior from Matthews, North Carolina is Towson's leader in caused turnovers with 19, adding 22 ground balls at close defense.  He was the CAA Defensive Player of the Week on March 18 and had six games this season with multiple caused turnovers.
 
Constantinides, who stands second in Towson history with 522 career faceoff victories, is a three-time All-CAA honoree, picking up his first First Team standing this year.  The junior faceoff specialist stands with a 57.7% faceoff rate, winning 168 faceoffs this season, notching 78 ground balls.  He has won at least 50% of faceoffs in his last 13 games, also having at least five ground balls in 11 different contests.  Constantinides also has six goals and two assists.
 
Weisshaar picks up his first All-CAA award after being CAA All-Rookie Team in 2023.  The Inside Lacrosse Midseason All-American Second Team is Towson's leading goal-scorer with 36, including being fifth in DI with seven man-up goals, adding 17 assists for 53 points.  The sophomore midfielder from Arnold, Maryland has notched multiple points in 13 of 14 games this season, including five games with at least four goals.
 
In his first year as a starting goalkeeper, Downs lands his first All-CAA selection.  A three-time CAA Defensive Player of the Week, the junior netminder ranks first in the CAA, and fourth in DI, with an 8.91 goals allowed average, adding a 55.1% save rate.  He earned at least 54% on saves in 10 of his 13 games played this season, notching a 9-3 record.
 
Morin notches his first-ever All-CAA honor.  Towson's primary LSM and member of the faceoff wing unit, the junior from Garnet Valley, Pennsylvania stands third on the team in each ground balls with 39 and caused turnovers with 14, also adding a goal and three assists.  Morin has scooped up at least three ground balls in eight games this season.
 
Potter also earns his first All-CAA selection, leading all CAA non-faceoff players in total ground balls with 49.  The graduate student SSDM and member of the faceoff wing unit has racked up 49 ground balls, 13 caused turnovers, a goal and three assists.  The Brighton, Michigan native has picked up at least three ground balls in his last 10 games played.
 
2024 CAA Postseason Honors - Towson
--CAA Offensive Player of the Year: Nick DeMaio
--CAA Coach of the Year: Shawn Nadelen
 
First Team All-CAA
--Nick DeMaio, attack
--Mikey Weisshaar, midfield
--Colby Barsz, defense
--Matt Constantinides, faceoff specialist
 
Second Team All-CAA
--Reece Potter, SSDM
--Sam Morin, LSM
--Luke Downs, goalkeeper
 
TOWSON TRIO NAMED USA LACROSSE ALL-AMERICANS
Three Tigers have been awarded 2024 All-America status by USA Lacrosse.  Mikey Weisshaar has been honored as a 2024 USA Lacrosse Third Team All-American while Colby Barsz and Nick DeMaio are 2024 USA Lacrosse All-America Honorable Mention.
 
Weisshaar was named to the Third Team, placing him as one of the top-nine midfielders in the country.  The sophomore is Towson's leading goal-scorer with 39, adding 19 assists for 58 points.  Starting every game in the first midfield, Weisshaar has seven games with at least three goals scored.
 
DeMaio, the CAA Offensive Player of the Year, stands third in DI with three assists per game, being Towson's leader in points with 80 off 32 goals and 48 assists.  Notching multiple points in his last 15 games, he has nine games with at least three assists.
 
Barsz is a three-time First Team All-CAA honoree, serving as Towson's primary close defenseman.   The senior is Towson's leader in caused turnovers with 22, adding 23 ground balls.
 
TOWSON NOTABLE YEARS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
1974: Towson won the NCAA College Division title with a 14-1 record under head coach Carl Runk, defeating Hobart 18-17 in overtime in the title game.    Jim Darcangelo was the College Division Midfielder of the Year while Wendell Thomas earned College Division Defensive Player of the Year.
 
1991: With victories over Virginia, Princeton and Maryland, the program's first DI NCAA Tournament wins, Towson State earned a trip to the NCAA final, falling to UNC in the title game. Five players were All-Americans, including First Team midfielder and future Lacrosse Hall of Fame inductee Rob Shek.
 
2001: A team of 12 freshmen and 17 sophomores went from 3-10 in 2000 to 14-4 in 2001 under coach Tony Seaman, defeating Duke and Maryland to reach the NCAA semifinals, losing to Princeton by one.  Kyle Campbell scored 51 goals that year, which stands #1 in Towson single season history.
 
2017: Led by a defense which did not allow more than 12 goals in any game, Towson knocked off Penn State and Syracuse en route to Championship Weekend under Shawn Nadelen, falling to Ohio State in the semis.  Two SSDMs, Jack Adams and Zach Goodrich, earned USILA Second Team All-America status.
 
STRONG SEASON
Towson is having one of its strongest seasons in several years.
--At 13-3, Towson has earned its winningest season since 2016 when the Tigers were 16-3.  Towson's 13 wins is currently tied for the most in DI.
--Towson was perfect in CAA play for the first time since 2004, when the Tigers were 5-0 in league play.
--Towson's 3-1 start to the year was the best since 2019, when the Tigers started the year 5-0.
 
FOUR TIGERS EARN PRESEASON ALL-CAA
Four Tigers earned 2024 Preseason All-CAA recognition in the preseason coaches poll: Colby Barsz, Matt Constantinides, Nick DeMaio and Josh Webber.
 
Constantinides, a two-time All-CAA Second Team player, was the lone faceoff specialist on the 2024 Preseason All-CAA Team, winning 56.1% of faceoffs and scooping 116 ground balls.
 
DeMaio earned 2023 All-CAA Second Team last season as Towson's scoring leader off 29 goals and 21 assists.
 
Webber picked up 2023 All-CAA Second Team as a starter in the first midfield, tallying 12 goals, 12 assists, 19 ground balls and eight caused turnovers.
 
In addition, Mikey Weisshaar was Preseason All-CAA Honorable Mention.  Weisshaar picked up 17 goals, eight assists and 15 ground balls last season.
 
DEMAIO - USA LACROSSE DI PLAYER OF THE WEEK 2/20
With a nine-point performance in a victory over Navy, Nick DeMaio was honored as the USA Lacrosse DI Men's Player of the Week.
 
DeMaio finished with four goals and five assists.  He earned the first nine-point game for a Towson Tiger since 2019.
 
PROGRAM EARNS 500TH VICTORY
Towson, which established varsity men's lacrosse in 1959, earned its 500th victory as a program on Feb. 17 with a 17-5 win vs. Navy.  Since the establishment under coach Billy Hooper in 1959, Towson has a program record of 511-382.
 
Last season, Shawn Nadelen earned his 100th victory as Towson head coach, holding a 115-85 career record.
 
VILLAGOMEZ - CAA OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
With a five-point performance in Towson's win at Delaware, Joaquin Villagomez was selected as the CAA Offensive Player of the Week.  The sophomore attack finished with three goals and two assists.
 
Four different Tigers have earned at least one CAA Offensive Player of the Week award this year: Nick DeMaio, Chop Gallagher, Joaquin Villagomez and Josh Webber.
 
CONSTANTINIDES ENTERS TOP-2 IN TOWSON HISTORY IN FACEOFFS
Towson's primary faceoff man his first three years, junior Matt Constantinides stands second in program history with 537 faceoff wins.  This includes 207 wins in 2023.
 
Constantinides needs 48 faceoff wins to tie for first in program history with Alex Woodall, who had 583 wins from 2017-19.  Constantinides passed Justin Berry, who had 507 faceoff victories from 1998-01, vs. Monmouth on April 20.
 
He is also third in Towson history in ground balls, currently standing with 287.  He is 20 away from tying for second all-time with Matt Eckerl, who had 307 ground balls from 2004-07.
 
THREE TIGERS SELECTED AS CAPTAINS
Towson has picked three captains for the 2023 campaign.  All are captains for the first time.
Colby Barsz (Sr. D)
--Two-time All-CAA First Team on defense
Ray Glass (Sr. SSDM)
--2023 Joseph Ferrante Memorial Scholarship recipient
Josh Webber (Sr. M)
--2023 All-CAA Second Team midfielder
 
HONORING THE 1974 NATIONAL TITLE TEAM
2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the 1974 Towson State College national championship team in the College Division.
 
Captained by Jeff Clarke, Tom Moore and Wendell Thomas, the Tigers went 14-1 in 1974, defeating Hobart 18-17 in overtime in the Division II national title game.  Carl Runk earned DII Coach of the Year while Jim Darcangelo notched College Division Player of the Year while Wendell Thomas earned College Division Defenseman of the Year.
 
Towson will be honoring the 1974 national title team during the April 20 game vs. Monmouth.
 
FROM THE HOME STATE....
Of the 48-man Towson roster, 21 players reside in the home state of Maryland.  This includes four players from Baltimore County: James Azbill (Catonsville), Matt Burnam (Nottingham), Ben Ellis (Towson) and Ray Glass (Perry Hall).
 
....AND FROM DIFFERENT TIME ZONES
    Towson players are represented in all time zones of the contiguous United States.  Including Maryland, Towson has representatives from 17 different states and Canada.
--Central Time Zone: Elijah Smith (Nebraska), Conor Spagnolli (Texas)
--Mountain Time Zone: Ethan Pearson (Colorado)
--Pacific Time Zone: Nick DeMaio (California), Chop Gallagher (Oregon), Bode Maurer (Washington)
 
TIGERS IN THE PROS/NATIONAL TEAMS
Towson alumni have made their mark in the professional/national lacrosse ranks this past season.
PLL - Premier Lacrosse League (PLL)
--Ryan Drenner '17 - Cannons, PLL
       --2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023 PLL All-Star
       --USA Men's Box National Team player pool
--Zach Goodrich '19 - Cannons, PLL/Team USA
       --2021 and 2023 PLL All-Star
       --Gold medal in 2023 World Championship w/ team USA
       --2020 MLL Defensive Player of the Year
--Fred Lee '08 - Team New Zealand
       --Started five games in 2023 World Championship
--Koby Smith '22 - Atlas, PLL
    --Member of Atlas Sixes Team
 
ACTIVE POINT STREAKS (10 GAMES OR LONGER)
Player                          Games (Points)
Nick DeMaio              26 (117P - 52G, 65A)
--Started: Mar. 11, 2023 at Virginia
Mikey Weisshaar       24 (78P - 53G, 25A)
--Started: Mar. 25, 2023 vs. Fairfield
Chop Gallagher         18 (45P - 22G, 23A)
--Started: Mar. 18, 2023 vs. Drexel
            (note: did not play April/May 2023)
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT:
Since 1983, Syracuse has won 11 NCAA national championships, the last coming in 2009.
 
Four USA Lacrosse All-Americans line up on offense, led by sophomore attack Joey Spallina, who is fifth in DI with five points per game, totaling 80 points off 33 goals and 47 assists.  Redshirt junior attack Owen Hiltz also has 33 goals, adding 24 assists.  USA Lacrosse Second Team All-American midfielder Jake Stevens has 17 goals and 15 assists.
 
Graduate transfer Will Mark from LIU has started all 16 games in goal, having a 53.6% save rate and 10.89 goals allowed average.  Sophomore close defenseman Billy Dwan earned Third Team All-America status from USA Lacrosse with 28 ground balls and 16 caused turnovers.
 
Another graduate transfer is the primary faceoff man: Tufts transfer Mason Kuhn wins 60.3% with 115 ground balls.
 
SERIES HISTORY - vs. SYRACUSE
Series record: Syracuse leads 9-3
    --Streak: Towson has won last one
    --in Towson: Syracuse leads 5-2
    --in Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse leads 3-0
    --Neutral Sites: Tied 1-1
    --In the NCAA Tournament: Towson leads 1-0     
 
All Meetings (latest to earliest):
Date                Location                      Result             
5/21/17            Newark, Del.               W, 10-7
3/25/00            Towson, Md.               L, 3-10
3/27/99            Towson, Md.               L, 9-12
3/21/98            Syracuse, N.Y.            L, 12-18
3/22/97            Towson, Md.               L, 11-14
3/23/96            Syracuse, N.Y.            L, 18-21
3/25/95            Towson, Md.               L, 10-16
3/26/94            Towson, Md.               L, 16-17 (OT)
3/27/93            Syracuse, N.Y.            L, 8-15
3/25/89            Manhasset, N.Y.         L, 9-10
3/17/73            Towson, Md.               W, 17-11
3/27/72            Towson, Md.               W, 17-9
 
NADELEN NAMED HEAD COACH OF U20 MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM
Towson head coach Shawn Nadelen has been selected as the head coach of the United States Men's U20 National Team.  Nadelen will prepare the U.S. U20 Team for the upcoming 2025 World Lacrosse Men's U20 Championship in South Korea.
 
He was part of the U.S. Senior National Team which won the gold medal in the 2010 FIL World Lacrossse Championships in England with a 12-10 victory over Canada in the title game.
 
Nadelen becomes the second Towson men's lacrosse head coach to lead one of the U.S. National Teams.  Tony Seaman, Towson head coach from 1999 to 2011, was the head coach of the U.S. Men's Senior National Team for the 1994 World Lacrosse Championship.
 
SAME STARTERS
Towson has remained consistent with its starting lineup during the season, having the same 10 starters in 15 of its 16 games this year.
 
The lone exception: Matt Nilan started ahead of Luke Downs in goal in Towson's win at Fairfield on March 23.
 
Including the starting 10, the first two midfield lines, the two primary faceoff men, the four primary SSDMs, the two primary LSMs and the starting goalkeeper, Towson plays all returners from 2023 and no freshmen/redshirt freshmen.