2-19-2024 4:20am

TU DOMINATES

TOWSON MEN’S LACROSSE EARNS COMPLETE VICTORY VS. NAVY FOR PROGRAM’S 500TH WIN

BOX SCORE (PDF)

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at Saint Joseph's

TOWSON, Md. – For the second straight game, the Towson University men's lacrosse team earned a dominant victory over an in-state opponent at home, winning 17-5 over Navy on Saturday afternoon.

Towson (2-1)'s offense saw eight different goal-scorers, including three hat tricks, vs. Navy (2-1) while the defense, anchored by Luke Downs in goal, stopped 11 of its opponent's 16 shots on goal.

Navy came in to this game having received votes in the USILA Coaches and Inside Lacrosse media polls. With the victory, Towson earned its 500th program victory.

Key Stats:

Nick DeMaio and Mikey Weisshaar each had career days on offense. DeMaio notched a career-high nine points off four goals and five assists, having a hand in over half of Towson's goals, while Weisshaar earned a career-high six points and four goals, adding two assists. Chop Gallagher also finished with a career-high in points with four with three goals, an assist and two ground balls.
In goal, Luke Downs had a career-high 11 saves in the win, allowing just five goals and scooping three ground balls. Elijah Smith caused three turnovers and grabbed four ground balls.
Matt Constantinides won 14-of-26 faceoffs, having eight ground balls and a goal.
For Navy, Henry Tolker led the Mids with two goals, adding two ground balls. The loss in goal went to Dan Daly, who had 10 saves, 17 goals allowed and three ground balls.

How It Happened:

Holding off Navy on a man-down situation, Towson got to work quickly as Nick DeMaio scored on a high-to-low shot off a spin move just 2:09 into the game. Towson continued the attack after a missed shot as Mikey Weisshaar got inside his defender and scored top shelf. Towson quickly added another off a low DeMaio shot between the keeper's feet to make it 3-0 Towson in the opening 3:43.
Navy called timeout as play started to go back and forth as Towson forced a turnover but Navy stopped two Towson clear attempts. Navy broke its drought with 7:12 left in the first with a Mac Haley goal. Towson earned a couple of ground balls and fired away on a long possession, breaking through with a Chop Gallagher score on a shot from left to inside the right post. Following a couple of Navy chances, Gallagher added another off a catch and shoot from Joaquin Villagomez towards the end of the quarter to give Towson a 5-1 lead after one.
Into the second, Weisshaar faked the goalie on the doorstep with a goal just over a minute in to give Towson a five-goal lead. Towson continued to go as after a caused turnover, Sam Morin raced across midfield, threw the ball to Bode Maurer for the quick shot and score to make it 7-1 Towson with 11:24 left in the second.
Navy picked up a long possession and scored on a fifth chance as Jon Jarosz scored. Towson's defense forced a shot clock violation the next time and drew a cross-check. Weisshaar scored on the man-up chance, then the next possession, Matt Constantinides won the faceoff, raced to goal and scored. Towson led 9-2.
Navy drew a man-up chance and scored to pull within six. Towson had another answer as DeMaio scored from straight away off a pass from Gallagher. Luke Downs held off Navy's chances with three saves in a span of 61 seconds as Towson looked to close out the quarter. Weisshaar scored off a shot on the run high to low in the closing seconds of the half to give Towson an 11-3 lead at the break.
An unnecessary roughness penalty on Navy gave Towson a man-up chance to begin the third. Alex Roussel scored on a laser underneath the crossbar to convert the extra man chance. Two minutes later, Gallagher added another on a pass from across the fan to Josh Webber.
The Towson defense continued to lock Navy down, holding on two man-down situations in a couple of minutes. Austin Ducommun added to the Towson lead with a dive towards the cage for the score and a 14-3 home team advantage.
After Navy scored from Henry Tolker, the two sides went scoreless for the next five-and-a-half minutes. Maurer broke the drought with a score off a pass from DeMaio to push the lead to 15-4 after three quarters.
Navy scored first in the fourth just under three minutes into the quarter. Play continued back and forth with Towson holding its strong advantage.
Towson added some razzle dazzle midway through the fourth when after a clear, DeMaio dropped off to Conor Spagnolli. The close defender fired and scored for his first career goal. 2:20 later, DeMaio added the final exclamation point off a catch and shoot from Weisshaar to give Towson a 12-goal lead. Several Tigers got into the game and held the lead intact as Towson won 17-5.

Inside the Numbers:

Nick DeMaio's ties for the most points in a game by a Towson player since Thomas DeNapoli had 10 points, off seven goals and three assists, vs. UMBC on March 19, 2013. Brendan Sunday had nine points vs. Georgetown on Feb. 23, 2019.
With eight wins today, Matt Constantinides stands alone in fifth place all-time in Towson history with 383 career faceoff victories.
Towson earns the largest margin of victory in a Towson-Navy game in the series history. Towson has also won three of the last four against the Midshipmen.
In its first two home games, Towson has outscored its competition 32-10.

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