5-02-2024 9:10pm

RECORD 7 GOALS--

Jeff Barto Editor

MAURER NETS SEVEN GOALS AS NO. 15 TOWSON MEN’S LACROSSE ADVANCES TO CAA TITLE GAME

TOWSON, Md. – It was a day filled with records as the No. 15 and 1-seed Towson University men's lacrosse team took down 4-seed Drexel 18-8 to advance to the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) title game on Saturday, May 4.

Towson (12-3), headlined by Bode Maurer scoring a CAA Tournament single game record seven goals, broke away from Drexel (6-9) with a 5-0 run into the second quarter. The Tigers dominated in most facets of the game, winning 66.7 of faceoffs and outshooting the Dragons 47-33.

Towson advances to the CAA title game to take on the winner of 2-seed Delaware and 3-seed Fairfield on Saturday, May 4 at 3:30 p.m. For CAA Tournament ticket information, visit https://am.ticketmaster.com/towson/caamlaxchampionship.

Key Stats:

Bode Maurer set new career-highs with seven goals, two assists and nine points, netting his seven goals on 10 shots. Nick DeMaio scored three goals and five assists while Joaquin Villagomez finished with four goals and two assists.
In goal, Luke Downs notched the win on 11 saves and eight goals allowed. Conor Spagnolli had two ground balls and a caused turnover on close defense.
Matt Constantinides won 15-of-23 faceoffs, scooping seven ground balls. Rocco Mareno got 5-of-7 faceoffs for four ground balls.
For Drexel, Luke Tomak led the Dragons with two goals. Drew McGill had the loss in goal, getting seven saves in 51:28 with 16 goals allowed.

How It Happened:

After a couple of possessions where Towson forced turnovers on defense, a catch and shoot from Mikey Weisshaar to Bode Maurer gave the Tigers their first goal. Not 12 seconds later, Max Semple picked up the ball off a turnover on a faceoff and scored on the run for a 1-1 score 3:47 into the game.
The chaotic play continued as after a blocked Towson shot, the Drexel defender got caught in the corner after the ground ball. Josh Webber forced the bad pass as Nick DeMaio got the ball and passed to Chop Gallagher for the catch and shoot goal straight away. Again Drexel countered off a turnover on the faceoff, seeing Semple score towards the end of the shot clock to make it 2-2.
Towson continued to get looks straight away on cage as Maurer was set up again for a catch and shoot at point blank range to give Towson back the lead. Each side continued to fire away, mainly missing wide. Towson added another with 1:38 left in the first as Joaquin Villagomez hit his mark off a pass from Gallagher as Towson led 4-2 after one.
Drew McGill made a couple of saves to stop Towson's offense, but the Tigers continued to find space near the goal circle. Villagomez added a second goal off a pass from DeMaio, then quickly after a clear, DeMaio again found Maurer on the doorstep again for a 6-2 Towson advantage.
Luke Downs had a great second quarter with a pair of big saves in a span of 72 seconds. The other way, Maurer got another goal off the high-to-low shot close range from Maurer on his fourth. Towson led by five with just under five minutes left in the second. Towson held off Drexel most of the quarter until with eight seconds in the half, Jack Joyner scored as Towson led 7-3 after one half.
With 11:21 left in the third, Towson rolled off three goals in a span of 2:08. Villagomez scored on a charge towards the cage from Weisshaar, Maurer added his fifth on a roll from behind the cage, then DeMaio found Jamison Gaskins for the close-range shot and score. Towson led 10-3 with 9:13 left in third.
Drexel drew a man-up chance and scored off a shot from Luke Tomak. Towson got the goal right back as Villagomez dodged off a defender and scored from about 10 yards out. Towson's defense continued to hold off Drexel as DeMaio added his first goal for a 12-4 Tigers lead, 4:21 to go in the third.
As Drexel got a goal with 18 seconds left, Towson won the faceoff and scored six seconds later with DeMaio. Towson led 13-5 after three.
Towson continued the attack as Matt Constantinides and Rocco Mareno kept winning faceoffs. DeMaio and Maurer scored within 64 seconds at the start of the fourth for a 15-5 Towson lead.
Drexel got two goals back and started to fire away on a third possession, with Downs making a save on a third chance. Towson put exclamation marks down with Maurer's seventh goal and a behind-the-back shot by Alex Roussel to send Towson up 17-7.
Both teams used several reserves towards the end of the game. Ronnie Gunter scored his first goal for Drexel, then Josh Webber scored for the Tigers as Towson won 18-8.

Inside the Numbers:

Bode Maurer breaks the CAA Tournament record for goals a game, previously at six goals in a game. He also surpassed the CAA Tournament record for points, passing the previous mark of eight. Nick DeMaio tied the CAA Tournament record with five assists in a single game.
Towson advances to its second CAA title game in three years. It will be Towson's 14th appearance in the CAA title game.
DeMaio now has 74 points on the year, tying for the fourth-highest single season scoring mark in Towson history. He also stands sixth in Towson single season history with 42 assists on the year.
Towson has 12 wins on the year, tying its winningest season since 2017, when the Tigers went 12-5. The Tigers were 16-3 the previous season.

Next Game:

Towson advances to the CAA title game to take on the winner of 2-seed Delaware and 3-seed Fairfield on Saturday, May 4 at 3:30 p.m.
For CAA Tournament ticket information, visit https://am.ticketmaster.com/towson/caamlaxchampionship.