The Towson men?s lacrosse team will take the field in the Colonial Athletic Association semifinals tonight, but some might argue that the game doesn?t really begin for the Tigers until the start of the fourth quarter.
The Tigers (8-5, 5-1 CAA) have had trouble finishing off the competition after three solid quarters of play.
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“Against the good teams, you have to play all four quarters,” Towson coach Tony Seaman said after a 9-7 loss to Johns Hopkins on Saturday. “You have to stand up and be accounted for in the end. We lost.”
Nevertheless, the Tigers are the top seed heading into tonight?s 7:30 game against fourth-seeded Hofstra (6-7, 3-3). Should Towson advance, it would face the winner of Wednesday?s Delaware-Drexel semifinal in a 7:30 game Saturday night at Johnny Unitas Stadium. Towson lost to Delaware, 13-12, in the CAA tournament last season, which caused the Tigers to miss the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2002.
“We know we have to win the tournament now, so we?re even more focused for Wednesday,” Towson senior Matt Eckerl said. “We don?t want to do the same thing as last year. We?ve all been through this once.”
Towson enters the tournament with the same record as it did entering last year?s postseason. Of the five losses, though, Towson has dropped four of them by two goals or less.
Seaman was rather candid in the post-game news conference after the Johns Hopkins game, noting that his team hadn?t committed a penalty in eight quarters. He took exception to the perception that the Tigers are a bunch of “brutes.”
“We can play with anyone in the country, but we have to win. We haven?t won. We?ve had seven one-goal games,” Seaman said. “I guess that?s what we take away from [the Hopkins loss].”
Tonight?s game can be heard live on 89.7 FM.
TOWSON WOMEN
The Towson women (6-9) ended their the season with a 15-9 defeat to Johns Hopkins (10-6) Monday night. In her final game, Tigers senior midfielder Shannon Witzel scored three goals to tie Ruth Guthridge for the school?s all-time goals mark. Witzel finished her career with 208 goals and 47 assists.
