TOWSON, Md. – Sophomore C.J. Corey and graduate student Josh Danza each scored their first goals of the season to lead the Towson
Tigers (2-2) to an impressive 3-1 come-from-behind victory over the Howard
Bison (0-5) Wednesday afternoon at the Tiger Soccer Complex.
The Tigers found themselves in an early hole when Howard's Donny-Joshua Felix stole the ball and
had a breakaway from the Towson defense. Faced with a one-on-one situation with
Tiger goalkeeper Felix Petermann,
the Bison's Felix put the ball in the net for a 1-0 Howard lead midway through
the first half.
However, the Tigers recaptured the momentum in the second
period, when Danza and junior co-captain Christian
Höfer scored 1:28 apart from each other to give Towson a 2-1 lead, much to
the delight of Towson head coach Frank
Olszewski, who was visibly excited on the sidelines.
“We finally broke the dam,” Olszewski said what asked what
his emotions were after Danza's goal. “It was stopped up and scoring a goal in
a game like today was a big emotional lift. We hoped once we got one, more
would follow.”
For Danza, his header off a corner kick entry pass from Phil Martinelli tied the game at 1-1 in
the 71st minute. It was his first career goal in a Tiger uniform.
“It feels great,” Danza said. “I've been struggling over the
past few games and have not been playing as well as I thought I should be. We
came out strong in the second half and kept on pushing.”
Hofer's second goal in two games proved to be the
game-winner, scored 71:46 into the game. Corey's goal with under 10 minutes
remaining gave the Tigers needed insurance to close out the win.
The Tigers also dominated the stat-sheet, outshooting Howard
23-2 in the game and Towson held a corner kick advantage of 13-0.
Prior to the game, the Tigers honored breast cancer survivor
Kim Merriken for her fight against
the disease. The Tigers wore pink armbands during the game to support breast
cancer research and awareness.
Towson will next host local rival Loyola (Md.) on September
11 for a game beginning at 4 p.m.
