Mikey Weisshaar set the table, and then Bode Maurer cleared it.

Towson men’s lacrosse leaned on Weisshaar in regulation and then got a game-winning goal from Maurer with 1:43 left in overtime to propel the team to an 11-10 victory over Thursday afternoon in a Coastal Athletic Association Tournament semifinal at Johnny Unitas Stadium.

The Tigers (10-5), the tourney’s No. 1 seed after capturing their second consecutive regular-season crown, will get a chance to capture their CAA-record 10th tournament championship in Saturday’s title game at 3:30 p.m. They will face either No. 2 seed Fairfield (12-2) or No. 3 seed Drexel (7-7), which played in the second semifinal.Towson might not have gotten there without Weisshaar. The junior attackman who grew up in Arnold and graduated from Archbishop Spalding validated the league coaches’ decision to vote for him as the conference’s Offensive Player of the Year by amassing game highs in goals (five), assists (three) and points (eight).

“I expect very high of myself,” said Weisshaar, who entered the game leading the CAA in goals (39) and points (55). “I go out there and play my heart out every time.”

Redshirt freshman attackman Ronan Fitzpatrick added two goals and two assists, but Weisshaar was the game’s most effective playmaker. He scored three times and registered an assist in the first half and then compiled two goals and two assists in the second.

The Tigers opened overtime with the ball courtesy of a 30-second interference penalty on redshirt sophomore short-stick defensive midfielder Justin McFaul at the end of regulation. They never went on the defensive, and Maurer ended the game by collecting a pass from graduate student midfielder Josh Webber (a career-high 19 saves) and skipping his shot from the left wing past Pride redshirt freshman goalkeeper Shea Kennedy and into the bottom right corner of the net.

“I knew the goalie was playing well. But that’s a routine shot that I take every single day,” Maurer said. “That’s something that should fall, and it just fell that time.”

Maurer, who had started all 17 games last spring at attack and racked up 36 goals and six assists, began with the second midfield. But in the fourth quarter, he was promoted to the first unit and scored his first goal to open the frame and then the game-winner.

Towson coach Shawn Nadelen said his trust in Maurer to fill in when called upon runs deep.

“We were down a couple guys through the midfield, and Bode’s one of those guys that we knew has got the experience and can get out there, and he’s earned that opportunity,” he said. “He was ready for that moment.”

Even though Weisshaar did not have a direct hand in Maurer’s game-winner in the extra session, he did make a significant contribution. After graduate student midfielder Chop Gallagher opened overtime by turning the ball over, Weisshaar stripped Hofstra senior short-stick defensive midfielder Chris Barry of the ball during a clearing attempt, and the Tigers maintained possession.

Weisshaar also scooped up four ground balls and caused three turnovers. It was the type of versatile outing that his teammates and Nadelen have grown accustomed to.

“Sometimes when he’s not playing to where he thinks he is or what he’s capable of, he gets frustrated, and you can see that, too, working with him through body language and working with him channeling that frustration into a ride-back or making a smart play the next time,” Nadelen said. “It’s something when an athlete holds himself to high standards and high expectations, you expect that, and he’s got to work for it because he gets a lot of attention. It’s something that doesn’t come easy, but he embraces the challenge.”

Since falling to then-No. 8 Johns Hopkins, 11-10, in their season opener Feb. 4, the Tigers have won their past four one-goal games, and all of them occurred in overtime. The team improved to 3-5 when trailing after three quarters.

Towson trailed 9-6 midway through the third quarter after the Pride scored four unanswered goals in a 6:35 span. But Nadelen organized the defense to play a zone scheme that allowed only one goal in the final 22:45 and opened the door for the offense to regain some much-needed rhythm.

“We’re not overly complicated defensively,” he said. “We have the man-to-man packages, we have the zone packages, and our guys are pretty comfortable in both. They were getting some advantages in our man-to-man stuff. So we felt like we really had to slow it down a little bit, especially after the [four]-goal run, and try to find our way to chisel our way back into it.”

Freshman attackman Drew Bogardus paced No. 4 seed Hofstra (8-7) with four goals, and redshirt junior midfielder Trevor Natalie scored three times. The defense was anchored by Kennedy, an Annapolis resident and St. Mary’s graduate who made 12 of his saves in the second half and overtime.

Nadelen quipped that he ran out of fingers trying to tabulate how many stops Kennedy had in the fourth quarter (eight) and expressed concern that the Tigers might have to face him for three more years. Pride coach Seth Tierney got choked up reviewing Kennedy’s performance.

“He’s a bag full of tears downstairs right now because he feels like he just let down a whole program, and it’s going to take a few days for him to realize — and I’m going to have to tell him — it’s actually the other way around,” he said. “He helped the program.”

Division I men

No. 3 Maryland 10, No. 7 Penn State 8: The second-seeded Terps (12-6) took a four-goal lead in the first half and held off the third-seeded Nittany Lions (10-4) in a Big Ten Tournament semifinal in Ann Arbor, Michigan on Thursday. Maryland was led by Daniel Kelly (Calvert Hall) with five goals and Matthew Keegan with three goals and an assist. Logan McNaney made 10 saves for the Terps, who advanced to the Big Ten championship game against top-seeded Ohio State, an 11-7 winner over Rutgers. Maryland will look to claim its fifth title and first since 2022.

Division I women

No. 15 Loyola Maryland 21, Holy Cross 8: Chase Boyle scored seven goals, while Georgia Latch piled up nine points as the top-seeded Greyhounds routed the Crusaders in the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament on Thursday at Ridley Athletic Complex. Latch excelled as both a finisher and feeder in totaling four goals and five assists for the Greyhounds, who led 12-3 at halftime. Loyola (13-5) will seek its ninth Patriot League Tournament title when it meets the winner of Thursday’s late semifinal between Army (13-2) and Navy (13-5).

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