When: Thursday, August 22, 2024
 Where: Tiger Field | Towson, Md.
Time: Thursday- 6:00 p.m.
Team Records: St. John's (1-0-0) vs. Towson (1-1-0)
Stream: FloFC
Series: St. John's Leads 2-0-1
TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University women's soccer hosts the St. John's Red Storm on Thursday night in the Tigers' home opener. The Tigers look to build off the 1-0 win against UMBC on Monday afternoon when Rebecca Groseibl scored her first collegiate goal from 35 yards out and Riley Melendez made a career-high ten saves.
 
HISTORIC 2023 SEASON:
The Tigers are looking to build off an excellent 2023 campaign that saw Towson pick up its first CAA Championship in program history, defeating Monmouth 2-1, which included a last-minute penalty save by Riley Melendez. Towson earned the one seed in the conference tournament and won just its third and fourth ever CAA Tournament games since joining the league in 2002. Towson boasted the top defense in the CAA last year allowing just 0.70 goals against with 11 shutouts.
 
Towson also boasted its most wins in a single season, picking up 15 as they went to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. The Tigers went undefeated at home with a 9-0-1 record. Towson took home four of the six major CAA awards including Attacking Player of the Year (Nia Christopher), Midfielder of the Year (Jasmine Hamid), Goalkeeper of the Year (Riley Melendez) and Coach of the Year (Katherine Vettori).
 
NON-CONFERENCE PREVIEW:
The Tigers play new and familiar foes this year. Towson kicks off the season against Virginia in Charlottesville then heads down the road to play UMBC. The Black & Gold host St. John's in their home opener then welcome George Washington, before heading to Dover, Delaware to play Delaware State. Towson welcomes Florida then plays host to Maryland for the first time since 2004. The Tigers travel to Philadelphia to take on Penn before concluding non-conference play with a home match against Saint Joseph's.
 
BRICK WALL DEFENSE:
Riley Melendez was a key part of a stalwart defense for the Tigers that allowed just 14 goals all season and seven in conference play. The senior from Virginia was named CAA Goalkeeper of the Year for her efforts that also landed her on the All-CAA First Team for the second straight year.
 
The Tigers return two starting defenders from last season including All-CAA Third Team Maja Hansson. Towson also welcomes back junior defender Reese Borden who was tied for third on the team in assists last season with five, a career high.
 
RECORD WATCH:
Goalkeeper Riley Melendez is now the program leader in career shutouts with 29, surpassing Hall of Famer Tina Steck who had 28. Melendez is also top ten in saves in program history ranking seventh all-time with 253 saves.
 
She is also looking to pass former teammate Jacey Miller in most games played with 84, trailing by only 16.
 
NEW FACES:
The Tigers welcome 12 new players this season, including seven transfers. Taylor Tolson (Coastal Carolina), Kale'a Perry (Lipscomb), Courtney Butlion (La Salle), Sydney Feiler (VCU), Hana Soliman (George Mason), Melissa Groseibl (Canisius) and Brooke Birrell (Maryland) join the Tigers. Anna Casler, Malin Bernt Schöps, Emma Levin, Jordan Baartman and Sofia Rosenblatt join the squad as first years.
 
COASTAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION OUTLOOK:
The Towson University women's soccer team was voted to finish in third place after receiving four first-place votes in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Preseason Poll. The Tigers were picked to finish in third place and received 123 points with four first-place votes while Monmouth was voted to finish in first and Hofstra in second.
 
Riley Melendez, Demi Pierre and Maja Hansson were all named to the 2024 Preseason All-CAA Women's Soccer Team. Graduate student midfielder Rebecca Groseibl was named All-CAA Honorable Mention.
 
Scouting St. John's
The Red Storm come into Towson with a 1-0-0 record defeating Colgate 2-0 last Sunday. St. John's is coming off a 10-6-3 season going 5-4-1 in BIG EAST play.  Lauryn Tran returns for her senior season after ranking second on the team in goals with four and assists with six. The Red Storm were picked to finish sixth in the BIG EAST Preseason Poll.  
 
Next Up
The Tigers will welcome George Washington to Tiger Field on Sunday, August 25^th at 6 p.m. The match will be streamed on FloFC.