The 1980 AIAW Division II national runners-up, the 1980 Towson women's lacrosse team was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010.
Coached by Hall of Fame member Dr. Margaret Faulkner, the Tigers were part of the United States Women's Lacrosse Association (USWLA) and the Maryland Collegiate Women's Lacrosse Association (MCWLA). The MCWLA included every school in the state ranging from community colleges to small colleges and universities.
The 1980 Tigers were among the elite teams in the USWLA and the MCWLA. Dr. Faulkner entered her tenth year with a talented team that had 19 letter winners. Facing a difficult early season schedule, the Tigers dropped two of their first three games, losing to Harvard and falling to Maryland. However, the Tigers responded to their slow start by winning their next eight games in a row. Highlighting the eight-game winning streak was a convincing 8-4 victory over Virginia in late March.
Hosting the seventh-annual MCWLA Tournament in April, the Tigers rolled into the championship game. In the quarterfinals, Towson dealt a 16-1 loss to Johns Hopkins as
Laurie Hardesty, '82 scored five goals.
Lynne Regier, '81 and
Pat Stokely, '82 each added four goals. In the semifinals, the Tigers took a 6-1 lead over Loyola and reached the title game with an 11-6 win.
Jill Minnick '84 led the Tigers with three goals while
Mary Bartel made 17 saves. Facing undefeated Maryland in the championship game, Towson lost to the Terps, who captured their fourth straight title with an 11-2 victory. Bartel kept the Tigers in the game by making 14 saves. In three MCWLA Tournament games, Bartel made 50 saves and allowed only 18 goals.
Lindsay Townsend, '82 and
Janet (Houck) Kines, '80 joined Regier and Bartel as Tigers who were named to the all-tournament first team.
Wendy Galinn, '81;
Elise Ennis, '81; and
Dee Downey, '81 earned second team notice along with Minnick. Hardesty was an honorable mention pick.
By finishing second in the MCWLA Tournament, the Tigers improved their record to 9-3 and earned a berth in the USWLA Division II Tournament scheduled for mid-May at UMBC. As a result of their 10-5 record that included two losses to top-ranked Maryland and one loss to number two Penn State, the Tigers were the number one seed in the 16-team field at the USWLA Tournament.
On the opening day of the tournament, the Tigers had to overcome a pair of upset bids. In a first round game against Delaware, Towson built a 10-6 lead early in the second half. But, the Blue Hens answered by scoring five straight goals to take an 11-10 lead with less than five minutes left in regulation. A pair of goals by
D'Ann Williams, '80 gave the Tigers a 12-11 advantage before Delaware's
Lisa Blanc sent the game to sudden-death overtime by scoring with 11 seconds remaining. Once they reached overtime, the Tigers wasted no time winning the game. Just 40 seconds into overtime,
Angel Cotsoradis, '82 took a pass from Townsend scored on a 20-foot shot to lift them to a 13-12 victory. It was her only goal of the season. Williams and Hardesty led the Tigers to the win with six goals each.
In the quarterfinals, the Tigers overcame another second-half deficit to pick up another one-goal victory, nipping Slippery Rock, 10-9. Regier and Hardesty paced the Tigers by scoring three goals apiece. Facing #5 Trenton State in the semifinals, the Tigers used a dominant second half to earn a 9-5 come-from-behind win. Trailing by 5-3 at halftime, Towson outscored the Lions 6-0 after intermission. Bartel led the Tigers to their best defensive effort of the tourney by making 15 saves while allowing only five goals. Williams led the Tigers with three goals while
Katie Glose, '81 and
Sandy Lisek, '80 chipped in with two goals each.
However, the Tigers ran out of gas in the championship game against Lafayette. The Leopards took a 4-1 lead and extended their lead to 6-1 midway through the second half. When Townsend scored her second goal of the game, the Tigers trailed, 6-2. But,
Pam McCall scored her fifth goal of the contest just 17 seconds later, giving Lafayette an insurmountable 7-2 lead. Williams and Regier added late goals, but it wasn't enough.
Offensively, Williams and Hardesty led the Tigers in the tournament. Williams scored 12 goals in four games while Hardesty tallied ten goals.
Despite the loss in the finals, the Tigers dominated the all-tournament team. Three of their top defensive players, Glose, Houck and Bartel, were honored. They were joined on the all-tourney team by Regier.
The Tigers, who ended the season with a 13-6 record, outscored their opponents by a 208-136 margin. Townsend, a Towson High School graduate, led the Tigers by scoring 33 goals with 17 assists. A product of Martin Spalding High School, Hardesty led the Tigers with 42 goals while Regier, a former Hereford High School standout, had 39 goals with six assists. A product of Randallstown High School, Williams added 25 goals and two assists. Minnick, another Hereford graduate, had an impressive freshman year as she scored 23 goals with one assist. Stokely, who attended Loch Raven High School, added 16 goals.
A Perry Hall High School graduate, Bartel anchored the Tiger defense by averaging just under 19 saves per game. While making 360 saves in 19 games, she allowed only 7.16 goals per game.
Bartel's 360 saves set a single-season record at Towson, a mark that still stands 30 years later.
A graduate of Notre Dame Prep, Glose teamed up with Galinn, a Pikesville High School product, and Houck, a Towson High School alum, to lead the Tiger defense.
After the season, Bartel and Glose were named to the prestigious 44-member USWLA team. They were two of four Tigers invited to try out for the squad. Houck and Regier barely missed joining their teammates on the USWLA team.
