When the buzzer sounded on Towson's 2013 men's lacrosse season, the scoreboard may have shown a 16-6 loss to Ohio State, but the overall record was 10-8, which signified a major victory in head coach Shawn Nadelen's second season as head coach.
"Ohio State played a terrific game, a game worthy of what they were seeded and what we expected to see," said Nadelen after his team's loss in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Columbus, Ohio. "Congratulations and terrific effort on their part. It was a game we knew had to prepare a lot for. It's tough when you come out in an NCAA game and don't really execute what you worked hard on."
And that kind of sums up the 2013 Towson lacrosse season. This was a young team led by mostly underclassmen that showed how good it could be when it executed the gameplan and how things wouldn't go the Tigers' way when they didn't perform the way it was drawn up.
The Start of the Season
Nobody said it was going to be easy. Towson came into the 2013 season selected to finish sixth in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) and that made some sense. The Tigers hadn't posted a winning season or made the NCAA Tournament since 2007, hadn't won the CAA since 2005 and they had lost five straight games going back to 2012.
So when they opened the season 0-3, which included a stunning loss to High Point, a six-goal loss at home to No. 4 Johns Hopkins and a 14-9 home loss to defending NCAA Champion and No. 2 Loyola, it was hard to distinguish whether this was the same old Towson team of the past or whether they were much improved.
Line Up Changes
Towson made several significant personnel changes in the offseason, highlighted by the move of junior Thomas DeNapoli from midfield to attack. But that also meant that the midfields had to evolve. With DeNapoli taking senior Matt Hughes' role, Hughes was moved to midfield and sophomore Justin Mabus was tried out on attack.
However, Towson really didn't find an offensive groove until midseason. The Tigers also didn't have a consistent face-off man as they juggled three players in the first six games before freshman Pat Conroy came into the fray. The longstick midfielder missed the first six games due to an illness.
The Turn Around
If there was a game that turned around the season, it was game seven against Navy, which just happened to be the first game Conroy played. Towson was coming off a disappointing, 10-9 overtime loss at home to Marist on March 8. The 2-4 Tigers were searching for an identity.
"Obviously any overtime game you lose is frustrating," said Nadelen after the Marist game. "I'm very, very upset...I feel really bad for the guys. I thought we played pretty hard but got careless in the second half, especially offensively. The third quarter really allowed them to get some momentum and really get back into it."
March was one of Towson's busiest months in recent memory. The Tigers were originally scheduled to face Stony Brook at home on March 16, but the Seawolves decided to drop Towson off their schedule, so the Tigers found an opponent who had an open date - Duke. Unfortunately, Towson had to lose a home game and gain its toughest road game in the middle of four straight away from home.
Fortunately for the Tigers, they persevered, winning three of the four road games in 10 days. It started on March 12, with an 8-7 road win over Navy. That followed with a 12-4 loss at Duke, who for some reason, was ranked No. 17 after a slow start (and is currently playing in NCAA quarterfinals as of May 16).
Towson then defeated local rival UMBC, 12-9, in Catonsville. This was the game where DeNapoli exploded for seven goals, which marked the first time in 10 years a Tiger scored six or more goals in one game. Conroy also took over a struggling face-off unit that went 1-for-8 to go went 7-for-13.
CAA Play
Towson opened conference play with a 7-6 overtime win over Delaware in Newark. This was a remarkable win as the Tigers needed sophomore Greg Cuccinello's long bouncer with 2.6 seconds left to tie the game at 6-6. Then junior midfielder Andrew Hodgson nailed a 13-yarder with 1:45 left in overtime for the win.
Towson ended March in style with another 7-6 win, this one over rival and No. 15 Hofstra at home in front of 1,429. Senior goaltender Andrew Wascavage recorded 19 saves, while Hodgson and Mabus scored four points apiece.
After a week off, Towson beat UMass, 9-5 on April 6. Junior attackman Devin Grimaldi led the Tigers three goals and an assist, while Wascavage had 20 saves.
Towson had renewed confidence at 3-0 in the CAA and 7-5 overall. Unfortunately, they had to take on their next two very tough opponents on the road, without second-leading scorer Cory Dobyns and freshman defensive midfielder Dan Livingston.
Towson lost at Penn State on April 13, then fell at Drexel, 14-11. The Drexel game was tied 5-5 at the half before the Dragons exploded for eight goals in the third quarter to go up 13-5. Towson scored the next six, but it was too much of a deficit to overcome.
The Tigers ended the regular season with a 13-6 win over St. Joseph's before 1,739 at Unitas Stadium. Towson got some revenge from last season's 6-3 loss in Philadelphia, which marked the Hawks first-ever CAA win. They were led by Cuccinello, who had four goals. Dobyns also returned to action with an extra-man goal, as he only played in those situations.
The CAA Tournament
Speaking of revenge, the Tigers were hoping to gain some against Drexel in the CAA semifinals on Wednesday, May 1 at Penn State. Thanks to redshirt freshman Ben McCarty, the Tigers returned the favor, winning 11-8. The speedy midfielder scored six goals, while Hodgson added two and Mabus dished out three assists.
Before the Tigers took on Penn State, who was victorious over UMass in the other semifinal game, the all-conference selections were handed out. Junior defenseman John Fennessy and DeNapoli were named to the first team, while Hodgson and sophomore JoJo Ostrander earned second-team All-CAA honors.
But there was one notable player missing. Wascavage was left off both teams, despite leading the league in saves per game and ranking in the top five in the nation in save percentage. That was an added amount of motivation for Nadelen and his defense.
Towson took it to the Nittany Lions in the CAA final on Friday, May 3, opening up a three-goal lead in the third quarter before holding on for the 11-10 win. Cuccinello led the Tigers with three goals, while DeNapoli added two goals and two assists.
The Tigers were off to their first NCAA Tournament since 2007 after winning their first CAA title since 2005. Wascavage, who had 12 saves, was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
The NCAA Tournament
The Tigers had eight days off before they faced third-seeded Ohio State in Columbus. Maybe it was the long layoff, but the Tigers weren't sharp on either side of the ball and the Buckeyes took advantage in the 16-6 win.
But for the youngest team in the CAA, a lesson was learned. They got their feet wet in a game were a lot of things didn't go their way and they ended up on the short end against a very talented and explosive team.
Looking Ahead
Unfortunately, due to the face-off situation, a lot of pressure was put on both sides of the ball. Towson won just 37 percent of its face-offs in 2013, as Conroy (55-of-156, 35.3 percent), freshman Zack Gregory (41-101, 41.6 percent) and freshman Conor Pequigney (31-of-79, 41.6 percent) all had their struggles. But all were freshmen and should improve, though expect Conroy to move back to the wings on face-offs as it's extremely difficult for a longstick to win draws on his own without help from the wings.
Towson will miss Wascavage (59.2 percent saves), who put together the second-highest save percentage in history in one year and third-most saves in one season. The fall goalie competition should be heated and likely the most important position battle along with the competition for number one face-off guy.
Most key players will be back, including DeNapoli (41g, 19a), Hodgson (27g, 14a), Cuccinello (23g, 6a), Dobyns (19g, 3a), McCarty (13g, 5a) and Mabus (8g, 16a). Not many teams have six of their first seven top scorers returning and just DeNapoli and Hodgson will be seniors.
