By: Lance Crafton, Beat Writer Towson University
The #11/#9 Towson Tigers (7-1 overall)had sunshine and cool temps for their Saturday, March 26, 2016 match up against the Binghamton Bearcats (2-4 overall). Tailgate parties and kids playing catch in the grass filled the parking lot before the game. I overheard one youth player wearing a Wolfpack jersey (a local Maryland club team) saying, “Watch me! I can shoot like Ryan Drenner!” The spirit of Tiger lacrosse was alive and well and black and yellow was everywhere!
Updating the 2016 Tigers
The Towson offense continues to confuse opponents as six different Tigers have 12 or more points. Ryan Drenner (13g, 11a) leads the way, with Joe Seider (15g, 3a) closing in on the 20-point mark for a third- straight year. Spencer Parks (10g, 8a) is tied with Seider for second in pints, with a surging Ben McCarty (12g, 5a) in fourth. Mike Lynch (7g, 5a) and Tyler Young (6g, 6a) round out the double digits. Towson’s dominant defense continued its ways, having held opponents to single figures in seven of the eight games this year. Tyler White has a 6.48 goals against average, while holding a 56.2 save percentage. He has made 63 saves against 233 total shots. After a rough outing at Ohio State, Face-off man Alec Burckley bounced back in a big way on Saturday, winning 14 of his 20 chances against Furman. Backup FOGO Steven Stillwell won two of his four efforts.
The Towson defense has allowed only 57 goals through the first eight games of the season en route to a 7-1 record, the program’s best start since the same record back in 1992. Those 57 goals allowed are the fewest by any Towson team through eight games since the program started elevated to Division I for the 1980 campaign. Last season’s defense allowed just 58 goals through the first eight games, holding a 5-3 mark. The 2015 and 2016 defenses are the only two in the program’s Division I history to hold opponents under 60 goals through eight games. The defense has been air tight, allowing only three goals in the opening five minutes, four in the third quarter and three in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter. The Tigers have not allowed a goal in the first five minutes of the second quarter this season.
Coupled with a stonewall defense, the Tiger offense is playing equally as well. The Tigers have notched 87 goals so far in 2016, averaging 10.88 goals per game. It’s the first time since the 2012 season; Head Coach Shawn Nadelen’s first at the helm, that the offense has produced 80+ goals in the first eight games. The last time the Tigers scored 80+ in back-to-back seasons through eight games were the 2003 and 2004 teams that put up 90 and 95 goals, respectively. The first quarter has unquestionably belonged to the Tigers in 2016. Towson has out-scored opponents 27-8 in the first 15 minutes of games, while holding a 49-21 edge at halftime. Towson has 19 goals for in the third quarter, allowing 13, The fourth quarter is the only period this season in which the Tigers have been out-scored, allowing 23 while scoring 18 in the final 15 minutes. Towson has been deadly efficient in the first five minutes of quarters this season. The Tigers have nine goals in the first five minutes of the first quarter, 10 in the second, 11 in the third, and seven in the fourth.
The Matchup
This is the third time these two teams have played each other with the Bearcats stealing a 7-6 double overtime victory in Towson in the first meeting back in 2006, while Towson took a 9-8 win in New York last year thanks to graduated Tiger, Max Siskind, getting four goals. Ryan Drenner also helped chop down the defense with three goals and one assist, with Parks and Seider rounding out the win with one goal and one assist each. This brings us to the third game between the Towson Tigers and the Binghamton Bearcats…
The Game
The game started off completely opposite of the above statistics stating how Towson has always been the dominate force on the field in the first quarter. Towson came out slow to start as the Bearcats came to prove they will not just lay down for the Tigers. Binghamton controlled the ball from the beginning and found net first with an unassisted goal by #16 Ben Kocis after nearly two minutes of play. The shock to the Tiger defense took another hit as a shot from Kocis whipped past Tyler White to put the Bearcats up 2-0. Towson finally got a break as Ryan Drenner dodged from behind the cage to above goal line extended (GLE) on the right side, split to come back low on the inside and then rolled back high and took a jump shot to get Towson on the board with 9:02 left in the first quarter. That was the only goal Towson would get in the first, contradicting their usual performance thus far this season. The Bearcats slammed the quarter shut with a goal by Johnny Maher with only two seconds left in the first. Maher got a feed from Garrett Waldon from X and shot it over Tyler White’s shoulder who obviously was stunned by the shot and didn’t even move to save it. This was the first time all season that Towson has trailed in the first quarter.
The Tiger D proved their worth and continued their streak of second quarter shutouts as the offense tried to shake off their slow start even though the Bearcats were out-hustling the Tigers and winning the fight for ground balls. The battles for ground balls began to get more intense and #16 for Binghamton, Ben Kocis, was hit hard and officials stopped the clock for the injured player who was the Bearcats’ point’s scorer thus far. Towson’s Brian Bolewicki stepped up to be the hero for the Towson offense as he drove to the cage, hitched his defender and pulled the trigger from 12 yards out and drove it home just under the top pipe (fifth goal of the year), assisted by Drenner. Bolewicki continued to wake up the offense as just 45 seconds later, he scored again, unassisted, with 2:20 left in the half balancing the score board to 3-3.
Coffee must have been the drink of choice filling the water jugs in the locker room as the Tigers came out wide awake and ready to play with new vigor. The third quarter proved to be the 15 minutes that both teams were determined to sweat for as it was truly an intense fight from both sides to get control of loose balls and maintain possession. Drenner started off the second half draining an unassisted shot (his 16th of the season) putting Towson on top for the first time of the game. He drove from X to the right side 7&7 mark for a question mark dodge and shot. The Tiger offense was wide awake. Drenner figured since the last move got one on the board, he mirrored the same shot but driving to the left side for the very next goal bumping the Tigers to 5-3. Tension was building as the GB fights finally reached a breaking point as both the Bearcats and Tigers received offsetting penalties as Eric Schweitzer from Binghamton drew a flag for an illegal body check to Joe Seider which had Seider draw a flag for unsportsmanlike conduct. Both for one minute and locked in. Even though both teams were even at five on five, Binghamton capitalized and threw a notch on the score board with a goal from Zach Scaduto finishing the only point drive for the quarter with still 8:16 left to go. The Bearcats drew another penalty on a hit to Joe Seider who received a feed to him on the crease and he took an illegal body check as he shot. Towson took advantage of the Extra Man Offense (EMO) as Spencer Parks tossed one up to Seider for the score. Towson was now awake and in full force as the ground ball game was now in their hands and the few instances Binghamton won a face-off, a forced turnover was soon at hand. Senior LSM, Pat Conroy, chased the very next face-off, which was won by Binghamton, to the sideline at midfield and forced the ball carrier out without even gaining a yard to his offensive side. This turnover set up Jon Mazza of Towson to find the back of the net, unassisted, with 4:49 left bringing the count to 7-4. The Bearcats call a timeout before the next face-off in hopes to regroup and stop the bleeding. Mazza’s answer to their attempt to regroup was to fire a Howitzer of a shot just under the top bar with 3:03 left in the quarter. Towson’s offense burst through in the third with five goals to Binghamton’s one goal.
The final quarter seemed like the Bearcats might be out for revenge as Dan Mazurek fired a rocket 15 yards out from the cage after just 12 seconds of play. The Tigers decided to use the fourth quarter as a shooting clinic as they unleashed fury on the worn out Bearcats defense. Ben McCarty lasers his 12th goal of the season from 12 yards up field, stealing paint from the underside of the crossbar at 13:27 with Drenner getting the assist. Towson cracks another one past Bearcat goalie Eric Fischer just two minutes later with Matt Wylly’s unassisted first goal of the season with a sweet overhand shot making the score 10-5. Unitas Stadium recognized his accomplishment by playing Foreigner’s “Feels Like the First Time” through the speakers as the Towson fans cheered the continued barrage of Towson goals. Seider gets his 17th goal of the year with an assist to Bolewicki making it 11-5. Ian Kirby finally gets in the game with his own unassisted goal (ninth of the season) with 8:33 left in the game. The shooting clinic raged on as Drenner got his fourth goal of the day with a drive from X to 5 and 5 and then a quick jump shot driving the count to 13-5. The Tigers received a penalty for cross checking giving the Bearcats their first EMO of the game (they are 5-22 for the year on EMO) but the Towson defense killed off the penalty with ease. Tyler Konen puts his stamp on the score board with a nice time and room shot from 13 yards deep after a quick dish by Parks. The Tigers pull White and send Matt Hoy to tend the pipes for the remainder of the game within the last five minutes of the game. Towson sophomore, Cole Robertson, closes out the Tigers’ shooting clinic for the day putting 15-5 on the board with 2:37 left in the game. The final goal goes to Binghamton’s Liam Reaume with 1:46 to go making the final game tally 15-6 improving Towson’s record to 8-1. This makes the Tigers ranked 10th in this week’s Nike Lacrosse/USILA Coaches’ Poll, collecting 242 points. The Tigers were ranked 11th in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) poll last week, and remain the highest-ranked team in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).
Next up for Towson, the Tigers round out their second three-game home stand next week when Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) rival Drexel comes to town. Opening face-off is set for noon at Johnny Unitas ® Stadium as the Tigers begin their 15th season as a member of the CAA.
Lance Crafton, Beat Writer Towson University
Lacrosse is Awesome