Towson’s Second Half Comeback Falls Short as They Fall to Princeton
By: David Walker, women’s lacrosse beat writer
After two dominant wins over the past week, Towson lost the battle of the tigers to Princeton, 17-13.
Both Towson and Princeton were hot coming into this Friday night matchup at Tiger Field. Winning their past two games by a combined 30 goals, the Towson offense had reignited after losing consecutive games. Princeton, after starting the season 0-1, had rattled off six straight wins, outscoring their opponents 118-66 over the season.
Princeton was ranked #7 in the country, making this Towson’s third game of the season against a ranked opponent. A win at home against a team of this caliber would turn their consecutive wins into a three-game hot streak.
Princeton jumped to a 3-0 lead early, with two goals from their leading scorer, senior McKenzie Blake. Towson would answer with a pair of goals, one each from Valerie Thompson and Milana Zikakovic. The Tigers exchanged goals and the 1st quarter ended 4-3, advantage Princeton.
The second quarter opened with each team exchanging goals. The score was even at 5-5 with 9:30 left. The story thus far was Princeton’s advantage at the free position, three of their first five coming from that spot.
Princeton then rattled off five unanswered going into halftime, they led 10-5. Despite the score, freshman goalie Jenna Cardeno was putting on a clinic in the cage. Cardeno had seven first half saves, keeping the game close, she would end the night with 12.
Towson would have to clean up the foul calls if they wanted to keep this game close. Princeton was getting to their spots and drawing calls, leading to their five-goal advantage.
The second half was slow to get going, Princeton getting the scoring going with 10 to go in the third. After six first-half free position goals, Princeton created and scored all their goals organically through the rest of the game. Blake led the way with two more goals, she would end the night with six goals, leading Princeton with 39 on the season.
Towson was keeping the pace, Zizakovic scoring three of her five in the third. They were outscored 5-4 in the quarter, but they were not out of it yet. 15-9 heading into the fourth.
Towson got going early, with junior Savannah Safchuck notching with her 16th goal of the season 35 seconds into the quarter. Luca DeMaio scored her second of the night three minutes later. Blake responded with her fifth goal of the game, extending Princeton’s lead, 16-11.
Almost six scoreless minutes passed. Both Tiger defenses were holding strong. Blake broke the scoreless spell with her sixth and final goal. Another three minutes passed until DeMaio completed her hat trick with two and half to go. Thompson tallied her second of the night with just over a minute to go. Then the final horn sounded.
Towson overcame a slow start to give Princeton a run for their money. Despite falling short, their performance means a lot going forward.
“We work really hard in practice,” Valerie Thompson said after the game, “We just know we can hang with these teams, so the next step is just getting there, digging in, and just playing a full game start to finish, and coming out with a win.”
Standing at 5-4 heading into the second of the season, a late-season push is needed to compete in the NCAA tournament. The Tigers head to Drexel next Sunday at 3:30pm.