SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The No. 12/15 Towson University men's lacrosse team led No. 4 Syracuse at the half for a strong showing in the NCAA Tournament First Round, but fell to the Orange 20-15 on Sunday night.
 
Towson (13-4) led 9-8 at the half, but Syracuse (11-5) scored nine goals in the third quarter and held off the Tigers the rest of the way.
 
With the defeat, Towson's winningest season since 2016 comes to a close in the NCAA Tournament First Round.  Syracuse advances to the NCAA Quarterfinal Round on Sunday, May 19 at Unitas Stadium.
 
Key Stats:

• Towson committed six fewer turnovers than Syracuse, having 14 to its opponent's 20.  Syracuse outshot Towson 46-34.
• In his first start of his Towson career, Alex Roussel notched a seven-point day, earning four goals, three assists (each career-highs) and two ground balls.  Three other Tigers, Chop Gallagher, Josh Webber and Mikey Weisshaar, notched a hat trick each, with Gallagher and Webber each adding an assist.
• On defense, the loss went to Luke Downs with nine saves on the night in goal.  Elijah Smith caused two turnovers at LSM.  Colby Barsz and Sam Morin each scooped five ground balls.
• Matt Constantinides was 8-for-20 at the faceoff-X, having four ground balls, while Rocco Mareno was 7-for-16.
• For Syracuse, Joey Spallina tallied up four goals, four assists and four ground balls.  Will Mark had the win in goal, making 10 saves.

How It Happened:

• Towson played aggressive defense in the opening possession as Reece Potter nearly caused a turnover, but Syracuse recovered and scored on a catch and shoot to Owen Hiltz just over a minute in.
• Syracuse fired away, but Towson held on two possessions as Sam Morin picked up a ground ball to clear, then Towson drew a man-up chance.  Bode Maurer dropped the ball off to Alex Roussel for the close range shot and score, tying the game at 1-1 with 10:43 left in the first.
• Syracuse got the goal back 30 seconds later as Joey Spallina emerged from behind the cage to score close range.  Towson countered next possession as Roussel came through again, pass out of a double team while falling down to Chop Gallagher, who scored inside the post close range.  Next possession, Josh Webber sent Towson into the lead with a run to the cage and score, putting the Tigers up 3-2 with 7:43 left in the first.
• 27 seconds after a media timeout, Hiltz scored again for Syracuse, then a wrap around the cage and score from Finn Thomson sent the home team back ahead.  The offense kept coming as Gallagher netted his second on a shot to the corner for a 4-4 tied game, 6:01 left in the first.
• Syracuse caught Towson out of the net for a catch and shoot goal to retake the lead.  Towson held on a one-minute penalty as Joe Petro forced a turnover on the man-down.  Towson ran out the penalty, then set up Mikey Weisshaar for the low shot and score past the keeper's feet, again tying the score.  Minutes later after the Towson defense forced a shot clock violation, Weisshaar scored again on another shot that hit low as Towson led 6-5 after one.
• Into the second quarter, Towson had a pair of possessions on offense but were stopped on a save and turnover respectively.  The other way, Spallina added a goal, again coming from behind the cage to score.
• Defenses started to settle in as Towson forced a couple of turnovers while Syracuse held the other side.  Luke Downs stopped another as Syracuse tried a shot on the doorstep, denying Christian Mule.  The other way towards the end of the shot clock, Roussel passed across the cage to Maurer for the catch and shoot goal as Towson led 7-6 with 5:30 in the 2^nd.
• Syracuse retook the lead on two goals in 10 seconds, prompting Towson to call a timeout.  Hiltz fired on cage with Downs making the high save.  Towson tied the game again on a Roussel shot under the crossbar to make it 8-8, 3:33 left in the second.
• Elijah Smith forced a turnover on a cutter as Towson cleared for a potential final shot.  Josh Webber revved up and fired, scoring inside the post to give Towson a 9-8 lead at the break.
• Syracuse scored first in the second half towards the end of the shot clock on its first possession to tie the game at nine.  After a wild sequence with a couple of turnovers each way, Michael Leo scored on a low shot, then Syracuse added two more quick goals, one from Sam English, then another off a John Mullen faceoff win, to lead 12-9 with 11:02 in the third.
• Towson called timeout and won the next faceoff, but a wide shot and Syracuse backup turned into another goal the other way.  Towson tried to hold off on a two-man down penalty, but Mule scored, then two more quick goals push Syracuse up 16-9 with 4:45 left in the third.
• Syracuse added another as Towson tried to get some offensive possessions, finally scoring towards the end of the quarter as Roussel again set up Maurer for a goal.  Towson trailed 17-10 after three.
• Towson regrouped and looked to come back, getting the first goal of the fourth quarter off a rip and score from Webber for the hat trick.  Syracuse scored 17 seconds later off a Spallina goal, which Towson got right back the other way as Nick DeMaio got hit hard but still delivered the pass to Maurer for the shot and score.  Towson pulled to within six with 11:42 to play.
• Towson had to play man-down after a slashing penalty, which led to Hiltz adding another.  Syracuse scored again next possession as Leo scored to give Syracuse a 20-12 lead.
• Towson did not quit as Matt Constantinides won some late faceoffs to give the Tigers some offensive possessions.  Weisshaar scored on a run to the cage, and in the closing minutes, Roussel netted two goals to get Towson within five.  The Orange ran out the clock and won 20-15.

Inside the Numbers:

• With 13 victories, Towson earns its winningest season since 2016, when the Tigers were 16-3.  Towson earned its first CAA Tournament title since 2019.
• This was the first time Towson played an NCAA Tournament game in Syracuse since 1991, when the Tigers competed in the national championship game vs. UNC.
• Towson's nine-game winning streak was snapped tonight.  It was the longest winning streak in the school's DI history.
• With two assists, Nick DeMaio finished with 82 points on the year, tied for the third-most all-time in Towson single season history.  He also finished with 50 assists, good for fourth all-time in Towson history.
• Mikey Weisshaar finished with 42 goals this season, good for sixth all-time in Towson single season history.
• Before today, Alex Roussel's career-high in points was four vs. UMBC on Mar. 2, 2024.
• Bode Maurer notched 14 goals in his last three games this year.