TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University women's lacrosse team held tough with No. 15 Loyola in the first half, looking for its fourth straight win, but fell to the Greyhounds 19-8 on Saturday.
 
Towson (3-2) tied Loyola (3-2) 6-6 late in the second quarter on a Savannah Safchuck goal with 4:01 to go in the half, nearly getting to halftime with a tied score.  Loyola finished the game on a 13-2 run to get the win.
 
Key Stats:

• Shots were near even in the game, with Loyola having a slight edge 31-29.  Towson won the ground ball battle 17-13 but Loyola had a 21-10 lead in draw controls.
• Towson took care of free position attempts, scoring four goals on six free position shots.
• Valerie Thompson finished with two goals for Towson, adding four draw controls and four ground balls.  Katie Roszko had a goal and an assist.
• The loss in goal went to Jenna Cardeno despite eight saves.  Jessica Lampasone forced three turnovers on defense.
• For Loyola, Georgia Latch tallied up four goals, four assists and three draw controls while Elisa Faklaris led all players with five goals and Chase Boyle tallied up 10 draw controls, a goal and an assist.  The win went to Lauren Spence, who had 10 saves in goals.

 
How It Happened:

• Loyola, led by Chase Boyle winning on the draw circle, took an early 2-0 lead in the opening two minutes.  Valerie Thompson stopped that early start with a free position goal in the right corner to pull Towson within one.
• Following another quick Loyola goal, Towson tied the game in the following minutes as Luca DeMaio came from around the cage and scored point blank then Milana Zizakovic scored on a narrow angle free position to tie the game at 3-3 with 7:37 left in the first.
• Loyola retook a two-goal lead, and again Towson fired back.  Katie Roszko hit a free position goal towards the end of the first, then Thompson hit another one herself shortly into the second quarter. 
• Following a Gabby Stapleton goal with 12:35 left in the second, the teams exchanged back-and-forth play for several minutes as both defenses held.  Jenna Cardeno notched five second-quarter saves to keep Towson in the game.  With 4:01 left in the second, Savannah Safchuck blew through two defenders to get the catch and shoot goal from Halley Koras to tie the game at 6-6.  Loyola added a late goal in the half to lead 7-6 at the break.
• Loyola had another fast quarter start with two goals in the opening minute of the third.  With the wind whipping, Hailey Waldron hit a pass from behind the cage down like a tennis racket shot and scored to pull Towson within two at 9-7 with 11:39 to go in the third.
• Towson did not get closer in the game as Loyola scored the last three goals of the third, adding the first three goals in the fourth.  Ocea Leavy ended the Loyola run with a goal off a pass from Roszko, but four more Loyola goals set the final score at 19-8 Greyhounds.

Inside the Numbers:

• With today's performance, Valerie Thompson is currently Towson's leader in goals with 11 and is tied for the team lead in points with 13.

Next Game:

• Towson enters conference play next weekend, challenging reigning CAA champion No. 16/14 Stony Brook on Saturday, Mar. 8 at 3 p.m. on Long Island.