By: Lance Crafton, Beat Writer Towson University
The #9/10 Towson Tigers played the Furman Paladins at home at Johnny Unitas Stadium on the last day of winter, March 19 and winter was not going to go quietly. It was a cold day that started off with a drizzle and ended with a combination of various states of precipitation from rain to snow and sleet in between. This is the first game Towson will be playing at Johnny Unitas Stadium as a top-10 team since playing #5 Cornell on May 14, 2005.
This is the first meeting between the two teams as Furman is only in its third varsity season. Towson, as well as the rest of the lacrosse world, is very familiar with the Paladin’s head coach, Richie Meade. Coach Meade was at the helm of the Naval Academy for 17 years (1995-2011).
A total of 10 Tigers put a notch on the board to help get the point across to Furman with a score of 15-6. The Towson offense started off the day like a rocket scoring seven goals (with only 10 shots) in the first quarter and blanking the Paladins. With just over a minute into the game, Ben McCarty put Towson on the board first and not a minute later, Ryan Drenner threw another on the board. McCarty then fed Tyler Young after just 3:57 of play making it Tyler’s fifth goal of the season. Young then shared the rock giving Brian Bolewicki his third goal of the year which he then followed up just 42 seconds later giving Bolewicki two in the first quarter off of an assist by McCarty. Freshman Jon Mazza found the back of the net from a pass from Tyler Konen 40 seconds after Bolewicki’s goal. McCarty then got his career-best third assist with a toss to Young who put it away for his second of the quarter to end the quarter.
Towson head coach Shawn Nadelen said, “I’m pleased with the way our team opened up the game and came out of the first quarter with great energy, executing at a really high level offensively. I thought we did a great job getting out shots on cage in good spots; and defensively, being able to get a few stops.” Furman head coach Richie Meade said about the first quarter, “Well you know, the opportunity got blown up in the first quarter. I thought we were just standing around watching them play. Jake [Gavin] needed to make some stops, we had turnovers, we threw the ball away, we didn’t play very well.” He also gave the Tigers some credit to their ability by saying, “They’re very solid defensively, very solid in the goal and offensively, they’re very dangerous.”
The second quarter started off with the same fury as the first with Ryan Drenner scoring his 13th goal of the season, second of the day with not even one minute into the second quarter. Spencer Parks got an assist to Konen for his second goal of the season at the 12:48 mark. Furman finally broke the shutout as a sloppy clear had Andrew Cordes have a pass picked off by Jonah Moore above the restraining box and took a quick shot into the empty net as keeper, Tyler White, was out of the cage helping with the clear. Moore showed that it was just a fluke as he took a pass from Gus Pinsoneault to squeeze the rock past White to get the score to 9-2, Towson. Furman showed some steam as another goal came in from up top of the box with 3:20 left in the half but was waved off for an attackman down low of the shot stepping in the crease as he cut through. The Tigers and the Paladins squeezed in a time out each before the end of the half as the rain/ sleet mix picked up.
The start of the second half had Jonah Moore trying to spark the Furman offense with his third goal of the day (11th for the season). The Tiger defense answered and proved their worth with shutting down the Paladin’s attempts to continue their drive by causing several turnovers. The Paladin’s started to show some frustration as they began to get penalties allowing the Towson Extra Man Offense (EMO) team to take the field and capitalize on the one minute penalty for slashing. Joe Seider fed down to Spencer Parks who put it away for his ninth goal of the year. The next face-off, Alec Burckley fought for a groundball that had both teams chasing it into Towson’s offensive end. Burckley managed to scoop up the GB and dish it to Joe Seider for the finish. A little while later, a fight for a loose ball in front of the Tiger goal had a Furman player fall onto Tyler White and officials stopped the game for White who remained down. He managed to walk off the field on his own but #28 Matt Hoy stepped in between the pipes while White was evaluated. Several more flags finished the third quarter with Furman getting a push with possession and Towson getting a slash from McCarty right before time expired.
The weather remained a sleet and snowy mix as the fourth quarter started off with Towson down for a minute. Tyler White was back in the cage and the Tiger D chewed up the penalty with no problem and caused a few missed passes by Furman. The golden child on EMO, freshman Ian Kirby, made the Paladins regret a 30 second penalty for holding as he drilled one to the upper corner (his 8th of the year, 6th on EMO) off of a feed from Drenner. McCarty added to the offensive rally with his 12th goal of the year when he found the back of the net as Drenner shared the ball again. Coach Shawn Nadelen decided to put in some new faces as well as put Matt Hoy back in the guard the net. McCarty stated in a post-game interview, “It’s great to get them out there. They show up every day like we do. They work hard just like we do. So it’s great to see them out on game day.” Parks got yet another goal as Burckley fed him from a faceoff. Furman finally stopped the bleeding as #44, Jonah Moore gets his fourth goal of the day. The Paladins threw up another by William Holcomb which was his first goal of his career. Towson answers back by sophomore Cole Robertson who tallied his first goal of his Towson career. The battle ended with Furman striking the net last with only 27 seconds left to go with Holcomb passing the salt to Gus Pinsoneault who drove it home. This ended winter with Towson defeating Furman 15-6.
Towson scored 15 goals for the first time since March 21, 2012 when the Tigers topped Mercer 17-2 at Johnny Unitas Stadium.
#12 Midfielder Ben McCarty said about not having to be the sole goal scorer this season, “Well it feels great. When you have confidence in every single person that’s on the field at all times, it’s not a “me offense”, it’s a sharing the ball offense. It makes things easy. You might have a good shot but we’re looking to get a great shot. It just improves our opportunities so much more.”
The Towson Tigers host Binghamton Bearcats this coming Saturday, March 26th, at 3pm at Johnny Unitas Stadium for their first game of Spring with a forecast predicting 57 degrees and sunny.
Lance Crafton, Beat Writer Towson University
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