Newly aggressive Drenner adds fuel as Tigers jump to early lead
6-1 advantage proves too much for sluggish Hoyas
In his first two years with the Towson men's lacrosse team, attackman Ryan Drenner built a reputation as a passer. This season, he's showcasing his ability to score.
Drenner scored four goals on six shots to serve as the catalyst for the No. 14 Tigers in a 10-7 victory over No. 17 Georgetown before an announced 1,419 at Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson on Saturday.
Towson moved to 3-0 for the first time since 2005, thanks to Drenner, the 6-foot, 175-pound junior who added three assists to pace the offense. Junior attackman Joe Seider (Hereford) scored twice, and redshirt freshman attackman Ian Kirby scored his fourth and fifth goals of the season, all of which have occurred in extra-man situations.
Drenner has been the spark plug for the Tigers, leading the team in goals (eight), assists (five) and points (13). With single-game career highs in both goals and points Saturday, the Westminster graduate became the second Towson player in as many seasons to put up seven points in a contest, joining then-junior attackman Spencer Parks (St. Paul's), who notched three goals and four assists in a 15-11 loss to Loyola Maryland on Feb. 18, 2015.
Drenner, who had 29 goals and 28 assists in his first two seasons, said the key has been a change in his approach to the game.
“I think a lot of teams are expecting me to be more of a feeder after last year,” he said of his 18-assist campaign. “I think defenses are looking for me to pass first and shoot second. This year, I'm trying to be as aggressive as I can while still looking to feed.”
Towson coach Shawn Nadelen said he has noticed a more confident player on the field.
Drenner is “a guy that's used to drawing a lot of attention,” Nadelen said. “I think with our balance offensively, you've got to worry about him, but you can't worry solely about him. He was throughout the fall and into spring definitely our most dangerous offensive player. In practice, he would give our starting guys trouble, and that's a good sign.”
Drenner scored the game's first goal, taking advantage of a switch against Nick Carpenter. Drenner took the junior short-stick defensive midfielder around the right post and fired a shot over him and past sophomore goalkeeper Nick Marrocco just 69 seconds into the contest.
After junior midfielder Devon Lewis scored with 11:26 left in the first quarter to tie the score at 1, Towson embarked on a 5-0 run fueled by Drenner.
After freshman midfielder Jon Mazza scored with 6:21 remaining in the first, Drenner scored back-to-back goals at the 5:24 and 3:32 marks.
The Tigers opened the second quarter with a man-up goal from Kirby on an assist from Drenner with 13:40 left. Drenner then scored his career-best fourth goal with 11:03 remaining.
The Hoyas made a dent in Towson's 6-1 advantage in the second period. A pair of goals from freshman attackman Daniel Bucaro sandwiched around Lewis' second tally of the contest accounted for a 3-0 spurt that cut the deficit to 6-4 at halftime.
Senior defenseman Mike Lowe said the Tigers regrouped after Bucaro's second goal with 36 seconds left in the half.
“Right after that last goal, whoever was on the field, we brought it in and we just talked to everybody and made sure we took a breath,” said Lowe, who caused two turnovers and picked up two ground balls. “We know that lacrosse is a game of runs and we had our run in the beginning. That was their run. We just had to get the wind back in us and make sure that we didn't make any more mistakes.”
Towson scored four of the first five goals of the second half (two on assists from Drenner) to gain a 10-5 advantage that was never seriously threatened.
Bucaro led Georgetown with three goals, and Marrocco finished with a game-high 13 saves. But the Hoyas are 0-2 for the second consecutive year because of that lethargic start, which led to a 6-1 deficit, according to coach Kevin Warne.
“We did not come out ready to play, there's no question about that,” he said. “We did things that are very uncharacteristic — stuff that we prepared for offensively and defensively — and we did not do what we were taught. The guys were looking at each other and looking at me, and I called a timeout after the first three [goals]. We just weren't on the same page.”
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