No. 10 TU men's lacrosse knock off Denver in NCAA first round

Facing long odds after winning a preliminary round game against Hobart on Wednesday, the Towson University men’s lacrosse team answered the call on Sunday, knocking off second-seeded Denver, the defending national champion, 10-9, at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. 

Coming off of an 18-5 win at home on Wednesday, TU played arguably its best game of the season against the 2015 NCAA Division I national champions, forcing 14 turnovers, while the Tigers committed just seven miscues. 

In front of a sell-out crowd, the Tiger (16-2) defense went to work against one of the top-scoring teams in the country. Holding true to its methodical offense, the Tigers got a four-goal performance from Spencer Parks, who also added two assists to his afternoon. Mike Lynch and Joe Seider put away two goals each while Jon Mazza and Ryan Drenner had one tally. Mazza, Tyler Konen and Tyler Young added one assist each.

How It Happened

• Towson U struck first at 8:56 of the first quarter as Seider ripped home his 34^th goal of the season and extended his goal-scoring streak to 23 games. 
• After a hold penalty against TU short-stick midfielder Zach Goodrich, Denver scored its first extra-man goal of the game from Zach Miller on a Brendan Bomberry assist at 7:09.
• The Tigers reeled off four unanswered goals, with Mazza notching the final first-quarter tally at 2:46. TU opened the second stanza with three in a row from two different sources. Parks beat his man around the corner for a marker at 11:23, followed by his second at 8:12 on a sharp feed from Konen.
• Parks had a point in the Tigers' fourth goal of the game as he fed midfielder Lynch for a 5-1 Tiger lead.
• Towson U got into uncharacteristic penalty trouble at the end of the half as Denver scored two EMO goals at 3:44 and 1:56. Connor Cannizzaro had the first, followed by Tyler Pace. Miller had the helpers on both goals.
• The second half was a game of runs for both sides as the Tigers struck first on Seider’s second of the day at 11:49 when Parks hit the junior with a pass for a 6-3 Tiger lead. Both defenses were stout over the next 10 minutes before the Pioneers got back within two on another Miller strike.
• Lynch hammered home his second of the day at 1:22 of the third, extending TU's lead back to three, 7-4.
• But the Pioneers (13-3) scored once more at the end of the third to pull back within two. After Tiger goalie Tyler White made back-to-back doorstop saves, Denver got a rebound goal from Colton Jackson with 1.5 seconds left in the third period.
• Denver continued that momentum into the fourth quarter, scoring back-to-back goals from Jackson and Connor Donahue at 12:45 and 11:35, respectively, tying the tilt at 7-7.
• The Tigers went on a three-goal burst over a six-minute stretch as Parks buried two, including one with the 30-second shot clock on, while Ryan Drenner added his 31^st tally of the year at 1:39 of the final stanza.
• Keeping things interesting in the final minute, Denver scored twice in 30 seconds on Cannizzaro’s second of the day and Miller’s third. The Tiger defense hung in late as Denver’s nation-leading faceoff specialist Trevor Baptiste won his 20^th draw and set the Pioneer offense to work. Towson U’s defense, ranked second in the country, held strong and cleared the zone to secure TU's first trip to the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships since 2003.

Behind the Numbers

• Sunday’s win over No. 2 was the highest-ranked team TU has ever beaten as a Division I program (1980).
• Towson U extended its program-record for wins in a single season to 16. The previous mark was 14.
• The win was the program’s first NCAA Tournament win on the road since a 12-11 win at No. 6 Maryland on May 20, 2001 in the quarterfinal round.
• White was huge for the Tigers down the stretch, making six of his 13 saves in the fourth quarter. His opposite, Alex Ready, stopped seven saves in the loss.
• In spite of the win, TU struggled at the faceoff X as Baptiste won 20 of the game’s 22 draws. The Tigers trotted out three different players, with longstick middie Patrick Conroy and Alec Burckley getting one win each.
• The Tigers improved to 4-1 all-time against Denver, including a 2-1 mark in the Mile High City. It was also the sixth-consecutive win for TU, its longest of the season.
• Sunday’s victory was the Tigers’ second over a top-five team this season. Towson U beat its next opponent, Loyola, 10-8 on March 2 when the Greyhounds were ranked fifth.
• Backed by a defense that caused six Denver turnovers, TU was nearly perfect in transition, clearing successfully on 15 of its 17 attempts. Denver was eight-for-nine in clears.  

Onto the Quarterfinals!

Up next for TU

• The No. 10 Tigers draw long-time rival No. 7 Loyola in the NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championship Quarterfinals.
• Towson U clashes with Loyola for a second time this season on Sunday, May 22 at 2:30 p.m. 
• The Charles Street rivals will square off at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. It will be the Tigers’ second trip to Ohio State University this season as TU beat the Buckeyes 10-9 in overtime on March 15.
• Visit TowsonTigers.com for updated stats, news and the latest information on how to follow the Tigers on their march to the title.

 

 Release courtesy of John Stark, Towson University Athletics