Towson drops first conference game
By: Tyler Beard, Staff Writer
Towson’s two goals from sophomore attackman Ryan Drenner weren’t enough to stop Hofstra on Senior Day on Saturday at Johnny Unitas Stadium, where it lost its first CAA game, 9-2.
The Tigers (9-4, 3-1 CAA) finished with just two goals off of 29 shots, including 16 shots on goal. It was the fewest goals the Tigers have scored in a game all season.
“Congratulations to Hofstra because they came down here with the mentality and effort to win the game today,” Head Coach Shawn Nadelen said. “They showed up on the field today ready to go today and we did not.”
The Pride (5-8, 2-2 CAA) broke through with the first goal of the game with a low shot from junior midfielder Korey Hendrickson with eight minutes left in the first quarter.
Sophomore attackman Joe Seider had a chance to grab the Tigers a goal on the next offensive possession, but his shot rattled off the cage of the goal and the Tigers finished the first quarter scoreless.
“We got off to a very slow start on our first few possessions and we’re the type of team that does really well when we get off to a hot start,” senior attacker Max Siskind said. “However, we didn’t get off to that start today, the shots weren’t falling and mentally we just didn’t have it.”
Hofstra’s junior attack Sam Llinares opened the second quarter with a quick goal that extended the team’s lead to 2-0.
Drenner scored the first goal for the Tigers with less than eight minutes left in the second quarter. The Tigers had been previously shut down by Hofstra’s senior goalie Chris Selva and freshman goalie Jack Concannon, who combined for five saves.
Selva came into the game because the strings holding the netting of Concannon’s stick broke. Selva finished the game with 12 saves.
Towson tied it up with Drenner’s second goal of the game on an extra-man possession, but Llinares scored right after for Hofstra to take back a 3-2 lead with three minutes left in the half.
One of the few bright spots in the first half for the Tigers was that sophomore midfielder Alec Burckley won 4-of-6 face-offs.
The Pride scored the first of the goal of the third quarter from sophomore attackman Trevor Kupecky with seven minutes left in the third quarter. Sophomore attacker Brier Davis followed up with a goal one minute later and the Pride extended its lead to 5-2.
Hofstra pulled away in the fourth quarter with Kupecky’s second goal with 10 minutes left in the game.
Towson’s defense didn’t have its usual type of performance, but senior defenseman JoJo Ostrander said the team should bounce back.
“Usually after a loss, we normally respond pretty well,” he said. “We know this was a bad loss on us but hopefully in practice we respond better.”
The loss to Hofstra also stopped the Tigers from locking up the first seed of the CAA tournament. The top seed gets to host the tournament.
“The loss was critical in a few ways because it allows Hofstra to get back into the mix and puts us into the position to possibly not host, which is something we’ve been looking forward to do,” Nadelen said.
Towson’s last game of the regular season is against the Drexel Dragons on Saturday at noon.