TOWSON, Md. – The No. 16 ranked and top seeded Towson University men's lacrosse team looked to pull off a big comeback in the fourth quarter but came up short in a 13-11 defeat to 3-seed Stony Brook in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) championship game on Saturday afternoon.
Towson (11-4) got off to a quick 2-0 start against Stony Brook (10-5), but the Seawolves scored eight of the next nine goals to take a five-goal advantage. A battle of runs ensued as Towson got to within two in the final 6:32 but could not bridge the final gap.
Despite the defeat, Towson saw
Mikey Weisshaar tie Towson's all-time goals mark with 154 in his career, scoring four today. He is tied with Glenn Smith, who had 154 goals from 1988-91.
Towson's season comes to close. The Tigers won double digit games and reached the CAA title game for the third straight year.
Key Stats
- Stony Brook narrowly outshot Towson 48-44 and had a 39-34 edge in ground balls. Towson won 15-of-26 faceoffs in the game.
- Mikey Weisshaar finished with six points off four goals and two assists, having four points in the fourth quarter. Joaquin Villagomez notched two goals and an assist.
- On the faceoff-X, Kai Lopez took every draw for Towson, winning 15-of-26 with eight ground balls.
- The loss in goal went to Matt Nilan despite 17 saves, allowing 13 goals. James Azbill on SSDM had three ground balls and two caused turnovers.
- For Stony Brook, Justin Bonacci had three goals, one assist and four ground balls. Tommy Wilk, chosen as the CAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player, earned the win in goals on 17 saves and 11 goals allowed.
How it Happened
- Towson got off to a fast start in the game, scoring on its opening two possessions: a Joaquin Villagomez laser from the left side off a pass from Mikey Weisshaar, then a Ryan Schrier close shot off a spin to get away from a defender as Towson led 2-0 in the opening 2:07.
- Stony Brook countered quickly, scoring on its first four offensive possessions from four different Seawolves to take a 4-2 lead with 9:17 left in the first, inducing Towson to call a timeout. Matt Nilan got a save on the next chance, then Ronan Fitzpatrick scored on a pass from Villagomez as the score was 4-3 Stony Brook midway through the first.
- A man-up penalty and a faceoff win led to two more Stony Brook goals in less than 40 seconds. Towson's defense held off the Seawolves the rest of the quarter as the visitors led 6-3.
- Stony Brook scored first in the second period on a Caleb Yeung goal, adding another goal on a second chance effort four minutes later.
- Mikey Weisshaar ended the Stony Brook run with a hard shot under the crossbar, then 2:30 later, Will Schoonmaker hit a low shot between the goalie's feet to pull Towson within three. Again the quarter ended with back-and-forth play with no goals as Stony Brook led 8-5 at the break.
- Nilan came out of the locker room strong with a couple of saves and a caused turnover in the opening minutes of the second half. The other way towards the end of the shot clock, Fitzpatrick had a jumping goal next to the goal circle to get Towson within two at 8-6, 10:13 left in the third.
- Stony Brook got a goal right back as the sides fired away at each other for several minutes. The Seawolves built the lead up with three goals in the final 2:06 of the third to lead 12-6 after three.
- Into the fourth, Weisshaar looked to get Towson back in the game, scoring with 11:33 left on a shot just below the crossbar. Next offensive chance, another Weisshaar goal got Towson close to four. Stony Brook called a timeout with 10:16 to play.
- Towson continued to go to its all-time points leader as Weisshaar scored again with 8:33 left. Two minutes later, he found Trevor Phipps in front of the cage for a catch and shoot goal to make it 12-10 Stony Brook with 6:32 left.
- Tommy Wilk made two saves to hold Stony Brook's lead, seeing Jack Cavalieri score the other way to return Stony Brook's lead to three. Towson kept forcing turnovers to get chances, but the Seawolves held. Villagomez added a goal in the final minute but Stony Brook took the 13-11 win.
Inside the Numbers
- Towson's streak of 25-straight victories against league opponents, including in tournaments, was snapped today. It is tied for the sixth-longest streak in Division I history.
- Mikey Weisshaar finishes his historic Towson career with the all-time lead in points with 234 and tied in goals with 154. He also tied for eighth all-time in assists with 80.
- Three Towson players were placed on the CAA All-Tournament Team: Matt Nilan, Joaquin Villagomez and Mikey Weisshaar.
- Joaquin Villagomez reached the 100 career goals mark, the ninth Tiger to ever achieve that feat.
- TowsonTigers.com –
