Towson Men’s Lacrosse finishes season strong, beats No. 15 Delaware
By: Sam Peterson, Senior staff writer and Waindim Tufoin, Contributing writer
The Towson Men’s Lacrosse team (6-8) upset No. 15 Delaware Blue Hens (10-4) 15-10 as they closed out the regular season and clinched a spot in the CAA tournament.
Attackman Nick DeMaio led the Tiger offense in scoring today with four goals, along with midfielder Kyle Berkeley who contributed two goals and three assists. Towson had nine different players score against the Blue Hens.
“We focused a lot on ourselves this week,” Head Coach Shawn Nadelen said. “It showed in how these guys played. Attacking right off the bat and playing hard against obviously a tough and experienced Delaware team.”
Delaware started off the scoring in the first quarter at the 13:07 mark after two Towson penalties. Towson responded back with sophomore faceoff man Matt Constantinides winning the faceoff and soaring past the Delaware defense to put Towson on the board.
“It was a tough start. We had two men down,” Nadelen said. “But [Constantinides] coming down and getting that faceoff fastbreak just kind of got us back set, and I just think our offense was ready to play.”
The Tigers forced a Delaware timeout after going on a 4-0 run that propelled them to a 5-2 lead just under the seven-minute mark. Towson finished the first quarter with a 6-3 lead, with all six goals coming from six different scorers.
Berkeley started off the Tiger scoring in the second quarter and notched his second goal of the game at the 13:58 mark. Towson continued to pile on the goals taking a 10-4 lead with five minutes left in the quarter. DeMaio and attackmen Andrew Milani and Joaquin Villagomez contributed with a goal for the Towson lead.
DeMaio led the Tiger scoring in the first half and finished with three goals giving Towson an 11-5 lead. The Tiger defense was stout in the first half and forced nine turnovers. Redshirt junior goalkeeper Evan Long defended the net with seven saves, five of which came in the second quarter.
“[Long] was definitely awesome,” said defensemen Garrett Zungailia. “He came up huge for us. He definitely bailed us out. We let up shots we knew he could save, and he did that today.”
The Blue Hens began to close the gap in the third quarter and scored at both the 14:36 and the 6:40 marks, which cut the Towson lead to 11-7. Delaware notched their third goal of the quarter with just under a minute and a half left and a fourth goal with 40 seconds left. The Towson offense was scoreless in the third, turning the ball over seven times.
“We just got out of sorts,” Nadelen said. “We just rushed some things and didn’t kind of value the ball there. The defensive end, again, just didn’t play smart, controlled and poised.”
After a scoreless third quarter, the Tiger offense came alive in the fourth quarter with three goals in the first five minutes. Villagomez and freshman midfielder Mikey Weisshaar scored their second goals of the game, along with graduate midfielder Alex Reid who scored his first.
Delaware scored their first and only goal of the fourth quarter at just under the seven-minute mark. The Tigers kept a five-goal lead for the remainder of the game as they defeated the Blue Hens 15-10 to close out the regular season and clinch a spot in the CAA tournament.
“We believe, obviously, in who we are and what we can do and continue to recognize what’s going to help us be successful,” Nadelen said. “It was really about us getting on the field, playing to the best of our ability and earning a win in this game.”
The Tigers await seeding for the upcoming CAA tournament, with the game between Hofstra and Stony Brook deciding if Towson is the No. 3 or No. 4 seed in the tournament. The tournament begins Thursday, May 4, at the University of Delaware.
