Towson Wins CAA Opener Over Delaware
from press release
TOWSON, Md. – Graduate student Christian
Pastirik (St. Mary’s H.S./Annapolis, Md.) scored a game-high
three goals, including the eventual game-winning goal in the third
quarter, and added an assist as Towson University (2-5, 1-0)
snapped a two-game losing streak with a 9-7 victory over the
University of Delaware (5-5, 0-1) in the Colonial Athletic
Association opener for both teams at Johnny Unitas® Stadium on
Saturday afternoon.
With the win, the Tigers have now won their conference opener in
seven of the last nine years and have beaten the Blue Hens three
straight times.
“We’re 1-0 in the conference,” Towson Coach Tony
Seaman said. “Everything we worked on paid off today. We
handled the ground balls well and did a good job of holding the
ball late at the end of the game.”
The Tigers took a quick 2-0 lead in the opening four minutes as
Pastirik and senior midfielder Will Harrington (Friends
School/Baltimore, Md.) scored back-to-back goals.
After junior midfielder John Austin (Shoreham-Wading River
H.S./Shoreham, N.Y.) scored with 7:26 left to narrow the Blue
Hens’ deficit to 2-1, junior midfielder Ben Ganley (The
Calverton School/Prince Frederick, Md.) tallied his first goal of
the season to give Towson a 3-1 advantage with 6:07 left in the
first quarter.
But, the Blue Hens rallied two goals late in the first quarter to
even the score at 3-3 as senior midfielder Martin Cahill (The
Governor’s Academy/Malden, Mass.) and senior attackman Curtis
Dickson (Riverside H.S./Port Coquitlam, B.C., Canada) scored past
junior goalkeeper Travis Love (Winters Mill H.S./Westminster,
Md.).
Pastirik gave the Tigers a 4-3 lead in the opening minutes of the
second quarter with his second goal of the game, an unassisted
marker past junior goalkeeper Noah Fossner (Niskayuna
H.S./Niskayuna, N.Y.).
However, Delaware responded by scoring two goals in a 41-second
span to take a 5-4 lead with 10:48 remaining in the first half.
After senior attackman Andrew Unthank (Concord H.S./Wilmington,
Del.) scored to even the score at 4-4, Austin tallied his second
goal of the game with an unassisted goal to give the Blue Hens
their first lead of the game.
Sophomore midfielder Carl Iacona (Massapequa H.S./Massapequa, N.Y.)
scored an unassisted goal with 8:05 remaining in the second
quarter, tying the game at 5-5 and starting a three-goal run for
the Tigers. Junior attackman Tim Stratton (Manheim Township
H.S./Lititz, Pa.) followed with an extra-man goal to give Towson a
6-5 lead before freshman attackman Matt Hughes (Central Bucks East
H.S./Doylestown, Pa.) upped the advantage to 7-5 by converting a
feed from Ganley.
Trailing by 7-5 to start the second half, the Blue Hens scored two
quick goals in a 61-second span to tie the game at 7-7. Dickson
scored an extra-man goal just 24 seconds into the third quarter
before Cahill added his second goal of the game, scoring off a feed
from senior attackman Mark Steverson (Good Counsel H.S./Rockville,
Md.) with 13:59 left.
However, it was the Blue Hens’ last goal of the game as the
Towson defense held Delaware scoreless for the final 28 minutes, 59
seconds.
Pastirik scored with 2:33 remaining in the third quarter to give
Towson an 8-7 lead before Harrington followed with his second goal
of the game, an unassisted marker with 3:23 remaining in the fourth
quarter.
While Pastirik led the Tigers with three goals and an assist,
Harrington added two goals as Towson outshot Delaware by a 36-32
margin. Love contributed 11 saves, including five in the second
half, to lead the Tiger defense.
Dickson, Cahill and Austin each scored two goals for the Blue Hens,
who matched their season low with seven goals.
“It’s a great job when you can hold a team like
Delaware to just seven goals,” Seaman said. “They have
some great shooters and Travis came up big when he had to for us
today.”
The Tigers will host local rival UMBC on Wednesday night at Unitas
Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Meanwhile, the Blue Hens will face Hofstra
next Saturday at 1 p.m.
