No. 12 Towson men 18, Fairfield 11
Tigers offense roars to life in league win
After most goals in 12 years, team closer to top seed in CAA tourney
Offense has not come particularly easy for the Towson men's lacrosse team this season.
But the No. 12 Tigers looked prolific and at ease Saturday afternoon as they exploded for their most goals in 12 years in an 18-11 thumping of Colonial Athletic Association rival Fairfield before an announced 1,105 at Johnny Unitas Stadium.
Junior midfielder Mike Lynch (Boys' Latin) had team highs in goals (five) and points (six) as Towson posted its highest-scoring output since a 20-11 shellacking of Villanova on April 3, 2004.
Senior attackman Spencer Parks (St. Paul's) added three goals and two assists, and junior attackman Ryan Drenner (Westminster) scored three times. The offense took 41 shots, converting a season-high 43.9 percent of those attempts and giving the Tigers a glimpse of their potential.
“I think it's close,” Parks said. “We're definitely not satisfied with any performance. But I think today was a step in the right direction. I think today was more of what we're capable of when we share the ball and do the right things and get the shots on net that we could.”
Lynch had a hand in the Tigers' win. He had a hat trick just 1:34 into the second quarter and scored two more times to obliterate his previous career best of two goals.
“I like to credit my teammates,” said Lynch, who logged his lone assist in the fourth quarter. “People like Spencer and Drenner are dodging and drawing two [defenders]. I'm just sitting there ready to shoot. And I try to get it on net, and hopefully, it goes in. Today, it did.”
Towson improved to 11-2 overall and 3-1 in the CAA. If the Tigers defeat Hofstra on Saturday, they will earn the top seed and home-field advantage in the league tournament, which opens May 5.
The result was especially gratifying after a 10-7 upset loss to Delaware on April 16, which gave Fairfield a chance to take a step toward clinching the top seed and home-field advantage in the CAA tournament.
“I would say we definitely had a bad taste in our mouth after Saturday,” Parks said. “All the guys on Sunday, we were talking about how eager we were to get back to work on Monday. I think over the course of the week, we had a good, tough week of practice. I think we played today how we should be playing.”
Fairfield opened the scoring when freshman attackman Colin Burke found junior attackman Nico Panepinto on the crease just 49 seconds in. The Tigers tied the score when Parks skipped the ball to Lynch for a blast from the right wing with 12:37 remaining, but the Stags regained the lead when Burke curled around the right post and fired a turnaround shot two minutes later.
But Fairfield did not score again until seven seconds remained in the second quarter. Towson took advantage with nine consecutive goals.
Trailing 10-3 at halftime, the Stags got a pair of goals from Burke in the first 2:25 of the third quarter, but the Tigers' 5-1 spurt pushed their advantage to 15-6 with 12:14 remaining.
Fairfield kept Towson on its toes with four straight goals over a 2:40 span, but the Tigers scored three of the game's last four goals — including a Hail Mary-type attempt from redshirt senior goalkeeper Tyler White just before the final buzzer sounded — to close out the game.
Towson took just 15 shots in the second half as the Stags dominated possession, winning 14 of 17 faceoffs, but it scored eight times.
“That was a necessity,” Towson coach Shawn Nadelen said. “We needed to answer their run and be able to stop the bleeding at times. We need to come out in that second half and put the pedal down and stay aggressive, and we did that. Unfortunately, we didn't have the ball a lot. So being able to be more efficient in that second half because we didn't have the ball a lot was huge.”
Burke paced Fairfield (7-7, 3-1) with a game-high seven points, and Panepinto contributed three goals. But coach Andy Copelan said the Tigers' start was too much to overcome.
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