Defense Breakthrough Leads Towson to Victory over Fairfield to Earn CAA Hosting Rights

By: Symone Hargrove, Staff Writer

The Towson Tigers captured a portion of the CAA regular season title and hosting rights to the CAA Tournament for the third consecutive year, as they took down the Fairfield Stags, 12-5.

The Tigers took on Fairfield University on April. 18 days after reigning CAA Offensive Player of the Year Mikey Weisshaar was drafted second overall in the 2026 PLL draft by the Boston Cannons.  

The Tigers have had a successful season, this win putting them at 23 consecutive league wins, the eighth-longest streak in Division I history. Towson also is the only team to remain undefeated in CAA play. 

Opening the game, Joe Meidling forced a turnover and scored off the clearance securing Towson’s first goal of the game. Weisshaar would then score back-to-back with a beautiful shot, surfacing from behind the goal putting Towson in front 3-0 quickly.  

With both teams getting holding calls and one-minute penalties, Matt Nilan stood up with five first quarter saves, shutting Fairfield out in the first quarter.  

“Matt Nilan was Phenomenal,” said head coach Shawn Nadelen. “I thought we played solid defense, but Nilan closed the door on a lot of solid opportunities to keep us with that separation.”  

Nilan’s robust performance earned him his third CAA Defensive Player of the Week award. 

Matt Burnam opened the scoring in the second quarter, with an assist by Joaquin Villagomez drawing a double team. Fairfield got on the board, scoring two goals within four minutes, bringing it to 3-2 with 7:14 left on the clock.  

The Tigers quickly answered in the next possession with a second assist by Villagomez and a quick release by Alex Roussel put Towson on the board again making it 5-2 with 5:05 on the clock in the second. 

Nearing the end of the half, coming out of a timeout called by Towson, Roussel scored his second goal assisted by Weisshaar, bringing it to 6-2 to close out the second quarter.  

At the start of the second half neither team could find a rhythm. A successful clearance led Brody Morgan to an impressive goal from 20 meters out.  The Tigers gained their momentum after this, Weisshaar and Roussel both scoring, lifting Towson’s lead to seven. 

Fairfield would call a timeout, the score 9-2 with 7:31 left in the third quarter.  

Fairfield gained some confidence, putting pressure on Towson and scoring again from a failed clearance by the Tigers, ending the third quarter scoring, 9-4.

To open the scoring in the fourth, the Stags got a goal by countering, after a clearance.  The Tigers quickly answered with a goal at the doorstep by Villagomez, assisted by Ronan Fitzpatrick. On a man-up opportunity, Roussel would find the back of the net, assisted by Ryan Schrier, the score 11-5 with 10:25 left on the clock.

Fairfield continued to fight, but Nilan refused to let anything past, making more saves late in the fourth quarter. Trevor Phipps would score the last goal of the game for Towson, highlighting the victory.

Both Weisshaar and Roussel collected their sixth hat trick of the season.  

“Proud for what these guys have worked hard for this season,” said Nadelen. “We still have a lot in front of us and things to improve on. But for these guys to put in the body of work and earn the opportunity to play for a league championship at home is exciting.” 

With a win against Hofstra, Towson can earn the outright regular season CAA title.  

The Tigers will take on Hofstra at Johnny Unitas Stadium on Saturday, April 25 at 12 p.m.