Towson falls on technicality

By: Jordan Cope, Staff Writer

Senior attacker Andi Raymond streaked down the middle of the field past Hofstra defenders and buried a shot top-shelf past goalie Kelsey Gregerson to give Towson what it believed was the game-winning goal in second overtime. The Towson sideline stormed the field, thinking it had just handed its Colonial Athletic Association foes their first conference loss of the season.

However, Pride Head Coach Shannon Smith called for a post-goal stick check. The referees could not find Raymond’s stick immediately after calling the stick check, and because of a new rule instituted in NCAA women’s lacrosse, the goal was disallowed.

Hofstra (9-4, 4-0 CAA) seized its second opportunity, moving down the field and taking the 8-7 victory on a Brittain Altomare goal Sunday at Johnny Unitas Stadium.

“In our minds, we had won the game,” Head Coach Sonia LaMonica said. “We lost it on a technicality, so that’s a real heartbreaker. But we will learn from that and we will see those guys again, and I think will have some extra fuel if we do.”

The Tigers (7-6, 2-2 CAA) jumped out to an early 3-2 lead over the Pride thanks to two goals from sophomore midfielder Samantha Brookhart and one goal from senior midfielder Paige Duncan within the span of a minute.

However, Hofstra went on a 3-0 run to take a 5-3 lead over Towson at the 15:50 mark in the first half.

After a timeout from LaMonica, the Tigers responded with a 3-0 run of their own with goals from senior attacker Sarah Maloof, Raymond and Brookhart.

“Often in timeouts we are just trying to regroup our girls, regain some momentum, just get them refocused in playing our game and the task at hand, and not getting caught up in your opponents’ run,” LaMonica said. “In all honesty, I don’t remember what I said, but certainly it was to regroup and step back out and find our rhythm again, and they responded.”

The Tigers took a 6-5 lead into halftime, but in the second half, the Pride tied the game, 6-6, with an early strike from attacker Tiana Parrella.

Again, Towson responded thanks to Brookhart’s third goal of the game to regain a slim one-goal lead. While the Tigers grabbed a 7-6 advantage, the Pride tied the game for the fourth time that afternoon with a goal from defensemen Lindsey Alfano just three seconds after the 22-minute mark.

“I think we were feeling strong and great about our effort in the first half, we knew we had to come out and give an even stronger effort in the second half,” LaMonica said. “Hofstra [is] a great team and it was an interesting half, very low scoring, a lot of up and down and tension building, so our kids continued to battle, that’s what they do.”

At the end of regulation, Towson and Hofstra were deadlocked at 7-7, and after two scoreless three-minute overtime periods, the teams headed to sudden victory. There, Towson got the opening draw and Raymond beat Gregerson. However, Smith’s stick check request stopped the action. The Tigers all dropped their sticks to celebrate the goal and because Raymond’s stick could not be located right away, the goal was waved off.

Hofstra goal came minutes after the no-goal and ended the game with just over three minutes left in the period.
Towson will head to Harrisonburg, Virginia, to take on the James Madison Dukes on Friday at 5 p.m.

“James Madison is a great program, it’s always a competitive game and we always look forward to competing against them,” LaMonica said. “We will need a little time to regroup and focus all of our energy into those guys and what we need to do to come out on top of that game.”

Towson beat Drexel, 15 – 6, on Friday night for its second CAA win of the year.

Leave a Reply

Close

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.