Towson Tigers Claim Back-To-Back Men’s Lacrosse Titles in Victory over Drexel

By Kylie Jones, Staff Writer

The Towson Tigers took down the Drexel Dragons in the CAA Men’s Lacrosse Final to claim back-to-back conference titles and their 10th CAA Championship overall. 

The Tigers entered the title game after a hard fought battle against Hofstra on Thursday night, with senior attacker Bode Maurer sealing the win with an overtime goal. Drexel advanced with a dominant 13-6 semi final win over Fairfield.  

Towson had success against Drexel in the regular season, beating the Dragons 12-8 with a six-goal performance from CAA Offensive Player of the Year Mikey Weisshaar. This momentum carried over into the championship match, where the Tigers wasted no time getting on the board. 

CAA Rookie of the Year Ronan Fitzpatrick opened the scoring in the opening five minutes, but Drexel responded with goals from Witt Crawford and Conor Hooley to take the brief lead. Towson quickly answered themselves, with Josh Webber assisting Weisshaar to tie the game at two. 

“It’s just about going out there and playing my hardest,” said Weisshaar. “I’ve just been lucky enough to be put in those opportunities.”

A defensive stand for Towson led to a failed Drexel clear and a Tiger team goal. Webber followed with a score of his own, assisted by Maurer, and Towson defenseman Ray Glass then forced a turnover to set up Fitzpatrick’s second of the day, giving Towson the 5-2 lead to close the first. 

“Ronan has had a strong year,” said head coach Shawn Nadelen. “He definitely opened things up at times and was able to have some nice opportunities.”

Fitzpatrick struck again to open the second quarter, marking Towson’s fifth straight goal. After another Drexel goal from Hooley, Chop Gallagher responded to make it 7-3 at the half. 

Drexel’s Max Semple dominated the third quarter, scoring twice– with one being during a Tiger penalty. 

Towson responded during an extra-man opportunity with Weisshaar finding Gallagher for his second goal of the game. The Dragons were able to cut their deficit thanks to a third goal from Semple, but Tigers goalie Luke Downs would come up big time, making a critical save at the end of the third to preserve Towson’s 8-6 lead. 

“I just trust myself and trust my instincts,” said Downs. “I had a few saves before that so I was feeling it and wasn’t too worried.”

Drexel’s Hooley completed his hat trick early in the fourth, bringing the Dragons within one of the Tigers. Towson would spread things back out during another man-up opportunity, this time Ryan Schrier finishing a Weisshaar assist. 

Crawford answered for Drexel, but Towson broke away with a decisive scoring run. Fitzpatrick notched his fourth goal off of a feed from Gallagher, followed by an extra-man goal from Michael Katz, also assisted by Gallagher. Weisshaar added his second, and Fitzpatrick capped off his standout day with a fifth goal to give Towson the largest margin of the match.

“I worked really hard this year,” said Fitzpatrick. “Last year was pretty rough for me, so I battled back and it feels good to help my team win this.”

Drexel added two more late goals, but it wasn’t enough as the Tigers would take home the CAA title as their own with a final score of 13-10.

“They’ve earned it and they’ve worked hard for it. It’s never easy and it’s never guaranteed,” said Nadelen. “I want them to remember what it takes and know that we’ve got more to give.”

Towson now advances to the NCAA Tournament. Their first-round opponent will be announced during the selection show on Sunday, May 4, at 9:30 p.m. on ESPNU.