TOWSON, Md. – The No. 16 and 1-seed Towson University men's lacrosse team is headed back to the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) title game after a 14-7 semifinal win vs. 4-seed Monmouth.
At 4-3 in the second quarter, Towson (11-3) bolted forward with eight of the next nine goals to secure the victory against Monmouth (6-7) to advance to the CAA title game for the third straight season.
Towson will now play 3-seed Stony Brook on Saturday, May 2 at 3:30 p.m. for the CAA Championship. Tickets for the game are available here:
https://am.ticketmaster.com/towson/buy/caamlaxchampionship
The Tigers win their eighth straight game plus Towson has won 25 consecutive games against league opponents (including league tournament wins), the tied for the sixth-longest streak in Division I history.
Key Stats
- Total shots were equal 41-41 in the game, but Towson put 24 shots on goal to Monmouth's 14.
- Monmouth won 15-of-24 faceoffs and had a 10-7 edge in saves. Towson committed just 14 turnovers to Monmouth's 17.
- Joaquin Villagomez notched four goals and an assist while each Alex Roussel and Ronan Fitzpatrick earned a hat trick. Mikey Weisshaar tallied up a goal and five assists.
- Matt Nilan earned the win in goal on seven saves and seven goals allowed. Elijah Smith caused three turnovers on defense plus had a ground ball.
- On the faceoff-X, Kai Lopez won 8-of-20, scooping seven ground balls.
- For Monmouth, Matt Dollive had two goals and an assist while Landon Parker won 14-of-21 faceoffs, getting seven ground balls. Dylan Cadigan had the loss in goal on 10 saves and 14 goals allowed.
How it Happened
- Towson earned the opening faceoff and fired away on goal, scoring on the third chance by Joaquin Villagomez on a high rocket under the crossbar. Each side exchanged a possession with saves as Towson's ride forced a problem to Monmouth, but Dylan Cadigan made a close range save. Towson led 1-0 in the opening minutes.
- Monmouth scored its first goal in transition off a save as Cadigan found an open Matt Dollive for the charge and goal with 7:33 left in the first. Towson countered attack with a Mikey Weisshaar goal under the crossbar, then Joe'll Spagnuolo forced a turnover on a faceoff win, leading to Villagomez scoring in transition off a pass from Joe Meidling to make it 3-1 with 6:01 left in the first.
- Both sides went back and forth, primarily with turnovers, to end the quarter on a scoring drought as Towson led 3-1 after one.
- Towson had a shot clock violation to start the second but forced a turnover on a long clear. The other way, Villagomez set up Alex Roussel for the catch and shoot goal 2:30 into the quarter. Monmouth got the goal back on the next possession to make it 4-2 Towson, 11:09 left in the first half.
- Towson's ride continued to cause Monmouth issues, but Monmouth's defense held. The Hawks got a goal at the 7:39 mark, then Towson got the score back on Weisshaar's pass across the defense to Villagomez for the shot and score inside the right post. Minutes later, Ronan Fitzpatrick drew a short stick behind cage, emerged in front and scored to push Towson up 6-3, 1:23 to go in the half. Towson went into the locker room up three, starting the second half man-down.
- Towson started off by holding off the penalty, then the other way, the bread and butter offense of Weisshaar to Villagomez on the doorstep for the goal pushed Towson's lead to four. Monmouth scored the other way, then Towson returned the lead to four on a behind-the-back shot on a run to the goal by Roussel for an 8-4 Towson lead, 10:16 in the third.
- After Elijah Smith forced a turnover on a Monmouth chance, Towson drew a man-up penalty and scored on a low laser from Roussel from Weisshaar. After a Monmouth save and turnover, Fitzpatrick shot through a double team and scored low to push the lead to 10-4 with 4:32 to go in the third.
- Towson drew another man-up penalty and took advantage as Will Schoonmaker scored straight away to give Towson an 11-4 lead, the eventual end of third quarter score.
- Towson held off a Monmouth quick strike off a faceoff and scored the other way with a low shot from Owen Scott. Monmouth won another faceoff and scored on its next possession, again being countered by Towson as Joe Meidling scored in transition off a pass from Weisshaar. Towson led 13-5 with 11:43 to play.
- The Towson ride forced another bad clear, but Monmouth held the other way and went to offense, scoring on a third chance from Dollive. Monmouth drew a slash and scored on the man-up chance from Matt Porazzo. Towson led 13-7 with 6:56 to play.
- Smith forced another turnover on Monmouth as Towson went back to offense. Again Fitzpatrick got around his defender and scored on a low shot to get Towson back up by seven with 4:58 left.
- Matt Nilan made two late saves to hold the lead as Towson coasted to the 14-7 victory.
Inside the Numbers
- This is the 16th time that Towson will advance to the CAA title game and third year in a row. Towson is 16-4 all-time in the CAA semifinal round.
- Joaquin Villagomez and Alex Roussel each earned their eighth hat trick of the season
- Towson improves to 5-0 all-time against Monmouth, all coming since 2023.
- Mikey Weisshaar increased his all-time points mark at Towson to 228. He has 70 points on the season, tied for eighth all-time in Towson single season history. His 43 goals this year is tied for seventh all-time in Towson single season history.
Next Game
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