Towson Trounces Sacred Heart
from press release
TOWSON, Md. - Junior midfielder Will Harrington scored a career-high four goals as the Tigers (5-5, 3-0) exploded for a season-high 16 goals en route to their fourth win in the last five games, a 16-8 Colonial Athletic Association victory over Sacred Heart University (3-7, 1-2) at Johnny Unitas® Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Tigers, who had ten different players score a goal in the win over Sacred Heart, improved to 8-0 all-time against the Pioneers with the victory.
"We were embarrassing on Tuesday night and we played very well today," Towson Coach Tony Seaman said. "We finally put somebody away today. Offensively, I think this is one of our best efforts of the season.
"Will's a good player and hadn't played anywhere in two years," Seaman added. "It has taken time for him and time for the rest of these guys to fit in together. He did a great job today and shot the ball very well."
After the Tigers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first quarter, the teams traded goals to start the second period before Sacred Heart scored three straight goals over a two-minute span for a 4-3 advantage with 9:25 remaining.
Led by Harrington, the Tigers responded by scoring ten consecutive goals for a nine-goal lead with 1:48 remaining in the third quarter. Harrington scored three of his four goals during the run while senior midfielder Randall Cooper and junior midfielder Pat Britton added a pair of markers.
Senior attackman Dan Casciano ended a nearly 25-minute scoring drought for the Pioneers by recording a pair of unassisted goals in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, narrowing the deficit to 13-6. But, the Tigers answered with a pair of goals to regain the nine-goal advantage.
The teams traded goals before freshman attackman Eric Madigan scored the first goal of his college career with 1:35 remaining for the Pioneers to end the scoring.
While Harrington led the Tigers with the first "hat trick" of his college career, three other Tigers added two goals in the victory.
"I think we put a lot of emphasis this week on putting the ball on the goal and I think we did a good job of that today," Harrington said. "We wanted to have a higher percentage of shots on goal and I think we were able to do that."
Casciano led the Pioneers in a losing effort with three goals while senior midfielder Bobby Rushton added a two-goal effort.
The Tigers outshot Sacred Heart by a 46-25 margin and converted a season-high four of seven extra-man opportunities.
The Tigers will return to action on Wednesday night when they travel to Villanova University for a 7 p.m. game against the Wildcats. Meanwhile, the Pioneers will continue their four-game road trip on Wednesday night at Delaware.
College Men's Lacrosse: Towson University 16, Sacred Heart University 8
Sacred Heart (3-7, 1-2) 0-4-0-4 / 8
Towson (5-5, 3-0) 2-5-6-4 / 16
Goals: SHU - Dan Casciano 3, Bobby Rushton 2, David Gannon 1, Tim Russo 1, Eric Madigan 1; TOW - Will Harrington 4, Tim Stratton 2, Randall Cooper 2, Pat Britton 2, Justin Schneider 1, Mitchell Rosensweig 1, Dan Kramer 1, Peter Mezzanotte 1, Scott Ruhl 1, John Lamon 1. Assists: SHU - Bobby Karl 1, Timmy Katz 1, Evan Morgan 1; TOW - Bill McCutcheon 2, Brock Armour 1, Stephen Norris 1, Mitchell Rosensweig 1, Justin Schneider 1. Saves: SHU - Zack Frank 4 (24:48, 6 goals allowed), Tom Trgo 7 (31:41, 9 goals allowed), Mike Murtha 0 (3:31, 1 goals allowed); TOW - Rob Wheeler 7 (48:19, 6 goals allowed), Travis Love 1 (7:52, 0 goals allowed), Andrew Wascavage 0 (1:39, 1 goals allowed), Justin Woodford 1 (2:10, 1 goals allowed). Shots: SHU - 25; TOW - 46. Extra-Man Opportunities: SHU - 1 for 4; TOW - 4 for 7. Attendance: 2233.
Post-Game Notes:
- Saturday's game between the Tigers and Sacred Heart marked the eighth all-time meeting between the two teams ... The Tigers hold a perfect 8-0 record against the Pioneers.
- The Tigers, who were playing just their third home game of the season, are 2-1 this year at Johnny Unitas® Stadium.
- Since the beginning of the 2002 season, the Tigers are now 46-8 (.852) when scoring 10 or more goals after setting a season high with 16 goals on Saturday afternoon ... It was the Tigers' highest scoring output since last year's 18-12 victory over Penn.
- The Tigers are now 3-0 this season when a Towson player records a "hat trick."
- The Tigers improved to 3-0 in the CAA this season, marking the fourth time in their eight-year membership that they have won the first three conference games ... The Tigers also started their conference schedule with three straight wins in the 2003, 2004 and 2007 seasons.
- The Tigers improved to a perfect 5-0 this season against unranked opponents.
- The Tigers improved to 8-1 all-time in games played on April 4 ... It was also their fifth straight win in games played on that date.
- The Tigers scored a season-high six goals in the third quarter, eclipsing the previous high of five goals which they set against Drexel last Saturday and tied in the second quarter of the win over the Pioneers.
- Meanwhile, the Tigers held Sacred Heart scoreless during the second and fourth quarters, marking the second and third times this season a Towson opponent has failed to score in a quarter.
- The Tigers scored a season-high four extra-man goals in seven opportunities ... They are now 17 of 35 in extra-man opportunities on the season ... Entering the week, the Tigers were ranked fourth in extra-man efficiency.
- The Tigers have converted at least one extra-man opportunity in 11 straight games ... They have scored 21 extra-man goals during that span.
- The Tigers committed a season-low 14 turnovers in the win over Sacred Heart on Saturday ... The previous low was 15 turnovers in the win at Bucknell on March 24.
- Towson Coach Tony Seaman earned his 251st career victory with the Tigers' win on Saturday ... Prior to the game, he was honored for his 250th win, which he earned against Drexel last Saturday.
- Junior goalkeeper Rob Wheeler was honored as the recipient of the Ferrante Memorial Award during half-time of Saturday's game.
- With the loss on Saturday, the Pioneers are now 1-4 away from home.
- Harrington had his third multi-goal game of the season against Sacred Heart ... It was also his third multi-point game of the season.
- Stratton had his third multi-goal game of the season and the 12th of his career ... Prior to Saturday, he had scored just two goals in the last five games.
- With his two assists, senior attackman Bill McCutcheon extended his point-scoring streak to ten straight games ... He also recorded an assist in the third straight game.
- Britton recorded the first multi-goal game of the season and the second of his career ... Prior to Saturday, he had not scored two goals in a game since he scored two goals against Villanova during the 2007 season when he was playing for Robert Morris.
- McCutcheon remained the only Tiger to record a point in all 10 of the Tigers' games this season.
- Freshman attackman Sean Maguire had his three-game goal-scoring streak and four-game point-scoring streak snapped against Sacred Heart on Saturday.
- Junior midfielder Brock Armour tallied an assist for the second straight game.
- Harrington has scored a goal in back-to-back games.
- Freshman attackman Stephen Norris recorded the first point of his career with an assist in the fourth quarter.
- Freshman attackman Dan Kramer and sophomore attackman John Lamon scored the first goals of their college careers in the win over Sacred Heart on Saturday.
- Kramer and freshman defenseman Sean Sheehe made their college debuts in the win on Saturday ... While Kramer scored a goal, Sheehe had a ground ball in the fourth quarter.
- Senior goalkeeper Justin Woodford made his first appearance of the season in the win over Sacred Heart on Saturday ... He had one save and allowed one goal in just over two minutes.
- Freshman midfielder Ian Mills won 6 of 11 face-offs against Sacred Heart on Saturday, setting season highs for wins and attempts ... In the last two games, he is 8 of 16 (.500) at the face-off ‘X'.
