TOWSON STARTS OFF THE SEASON STRONG 2/12/16
By: Lance Crafton, NCAA Writer Towson University
After having the home-opener moved from Saturday February 13, to Friday February 12 due to the frigid temperatures, Towson would take on Mercer in front of a crowd of 275 die-hard lacrosse fans and those fans who chose to defy the 26 degree weather at Johnny Unitas Stadium in Baltimore County, Maryland were not disappointed to see their team dominate the game. Final Score: Towson 11–Mercer 2.
Towson would score four goals in the first, the only goals of the quarter. Joe Seider would put up the first and last goals of the quarter; Ben McCarty and Spencer Parks would also find net. Mercer would have not first quarter shots with the first five possessions all ending in turnovers. Mercer Head Coach Kyle Hannan was quoted saying “You can’t shoot it when you turn it over so that’s what we fell into there. Again, that all stems from the first five times we got the ball across the midfield line somebody stepped out, punched us, got physical, and I think we froze up a little bit.” Unfortunately Mercer just couldn’t keep the ball for an extended period of time and needed more offense and rhythm to be able to score. Mercer would get called for slashing by Gabriel Anderson; and Ensor Walker would receive a cross-checking penalty. The only penalty against Towson was a slashing call against Andrew Cordes. Score at the end of the first Towson 4—Mercer 0.
Starting off the second on a man up situation, Towson’s Ian Kirby would hit net only 47 seconds in. Zach Goodrich would put another point on the board for Towson. Mercer would finally score at with 6:08 left in the half goal from Lucas Wittenberg. Towson would score the final goal of the half with only 2:34 remaining when Seider would get his second of the game. There were no penalties in the second. At the end of the first half Towson would be up 7-1.
With the start of the third quarter, Towson would be the only ones to score. Ryan Drenner would get his first; and Parks his second of the game. Mercer couldn’t overcome the strong defense; and they couldn’t get the ball past Tyler White in cage. Towson would see Mike Lowe called for two separate penalties, one a slashing and the other an unsportsmanlike conduct. Mercer would receive one off a slashing call against Patrick de Heuck. Score at the end of the third, Towson was still up 9-1.
Going into the final quarter, Mercer was stunned and needed to score, but Towson wasn’t having anything to do with that. Parks would get his third of the game giving him the hat-trick; followed by Dylan Kinnear. In a last ditch effort, Mercer played their hearts out and were only able to score one final time in the game with 24 seconds left on the clock when Shawn Carter would score the last goal of the game. Final Score: Towson 11—Mercer 2.
Towson Head Coach Shawn Nadelen was quoted saying “I’m really impressed with the young guys. They really stepped up and that’s huge for us. We need every guy on the team. It doesn’t matter who you are, freshman, junior, senior. They stepped up.”
Game Stats:
Towson: 38 SOG; 25 GB; 9-16 face-offs; 14-15 Clears; 2-3 Extra-man opps; 7 saves; 12 turnovers
Mercer: 17 SOG; 18 GB; 7-16 face-offs; 14-16 Clears; 0-3 Extra-man opps; 10 saves; 11 turnovers
With this victory, Towson moves up in two of the three polls. Let’s see what happens next when they face-off against Mount St. Mary’s on February 20, 2016.
Lance Crafton, NCAA Writer Towson University
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