4-01-2024 4:50am

TU SETTING PACE

TOWSON MEN’S LACROSSE MOVES TO 3-0 IN CAA PLAY WITH WIN VS. STONY BROOK

TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University men's lacrosse team improved to 3-0 in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play, using a dominant defensive effort to defeat Stony Brook 9-8 at Johnny Unitas® Stadium.

Towson (7-3, 3-0 CAA) held Stony Brook (3-7, 1-2 CAA) without a goal in the opening quarter and stifled possessions with Matt Constantinides winning 80% of faceoffs in the game. With Towson up 9-6 with 1:13 left, Stony Brook scored two goals, then Towson held off the Seawolves on a final chance to win the game.

With the win, Towson stays tied for first place in the CAA with Delaware at 3-0.

Key Stats:

Towson outshot Stony Brook 47-30 had the edge in ground balls 35-29. On the defensive end, Towson's ride helped to force seven turnovers on Stony Brook clears.
Towson went 3-for-5 on man-up chances while Stony Brook was 1-for-5, including the Seawolves being stopped on the final offensive possession with the Tigers man-down.
Matt Constantinides took all 20 faceoffs for Towson, winning 16 for 80%, including taking the first 12. He added five ground balls and a goal.
In goal, Luke Downs anchored the defense for the win with 11 saves and eight goals allowed. Conor Spagnolli notched two ground balls and three caused turnovers.
Towson had eight different goal scorers, led by Mikey Weisshaar with two goals and one assist. Nick DeMaio tallied up three assists, six ground balls and three caused turnovers.
For Stony Brook, Dylan Pallonetti had five of the team's eight goals. The loss went to Tommy Wilk, who had 15 saves and nine goals allowed in 58:19 of play.

How It Happened:

After some early back-and-forth, Joaquin Villagomez emerged from behind the cage to score off a pass from Mikey Weisshaar to make it 1-0 Towson 2:07 in.
Both sides fired away on cage, with neither being able to break the other's defense. Luke Downs stopped three shots in the opening 6:30 of the game while Christian Lowd forced two early turnovers on the Towson midfield lines. The defenses continued as Tommy Wilk saved three Towson shots in a span of 1:30 while the Towson ride forced two turnovers. Towson led 1-0 after one.
Towson got a pair of goals in a span of 44 seconds shortly into the second quarter as Villagomez found Bode Maurer open on the doorstep, then Josh Webber scored on a long range shot off the pass from Nick DeMaio. Towson led 3-0 after over 20 minutes of play.
Stony Brook broke its scoring drought with a goal from Dylan Pallonetti, adding another from him minutes later. Matt Constantinides, following a timeout, won a faceoff and took the ball to cage himself for the goal to return Towson's lead to two.
On a fourth shot attempt on a possession, Stony Brook scored from Jack Dougherty. In the closing minutes of the first half, a shot from Jamison Gaskins rolled past the keeper to push Towson up 5-3, the eventual halftime score.
Minutes into the second half, a second chance effort begun off a Chop Gallagher ground ball led to Weisshaar on a diving shot and score to return Towson's lead to three. Towson continued to pressure the Seawolves, with Nick DeMaio and Conor Spagnolli forcing turnovers.
Two goals by Pallonetti brought the visitors back within one. Towson drew a slashing penalty to go man-up, seeing Weisshaar fire a shot past a defender and into the corner of the net for a 7-5 lead after three quarters.
The physical play continued as Maurer and Joe Petro forced turnovers and kept Stony Brook at bay. On another man-up chance, DeMaio found Alex Roussel at the center of the Stony Brook defense. Roussel fired on the catch and shoot and scored to make it 8-5 Towson with 10:34 to play.
The Towson zone defense continued to hold against the Stony Brook offense until the 6:38 mark in the fourth where Pallonetti added a fifth goal. Just under four minutes later, Towson got the goal back as Gallagher avoided a defender's attack, going forward and scoring on a running shot towards the cage.
With 1:12 to go, Stony Brook scored twice in 31 seconds to pull within one goal. Towson won the faceoff but lost the ball with 18 seconds left and had to go man-down. A final attempt by Pallonetti was saved as the Seawolves could not get another chance. Towson held for the 9-8 win.

Inside the Numbers:

Towson is 7-3 overall, matching its best start to a season since going 7-3 to begin the 2019 year. It is the best start for the Tigers since 2016, when Towson started 10-1.
This is Towson's first 3-0 start in CAA play since beginning 3-0 in the league in 2017.
Matt Constantinides tied a season-high with 16 faceoff victories, having the same amount of wins vs. Mount St. Mary's on Feb. 10.
This is the second time this season where Nick DeMaio, an attack, led the Tigers in caused turnovers. In addition, DeMaio has 30 assists on the year, just one shy of being in the top-10 in assists in Towson history for a single season.
Towson is 5-0 this season when holding its opponent to single-digit goals.
Nick DeMaio has earned at least one point his last 20 games while Mikey Weisshaar has at least one point in his last 18 games.

Next Game:

Towson returns to the Johnny Unitas® Stadium field on Saturday, April 6 at 12 p.m. vs. Hofstra.
To purchase tickets or if you have any questions regarding tickets, visit https://am.ticketmaster.com/towson/ or call the Towson Athletics ticket office at 410-704-4501.