The Towson men's lacrosse team opened up its fall ball schedule with a 11-4 victory over Keio University last Wednesday. Despite playing international rules, Towson took 42 shots, led by junior Devin Grimaldi's two goals and two assists.
 
While the Tigers did experiment with many different combinations on attack and midfield in this "friendly," they played a lot more uptemp0, possibly getting used to new rules and a faster pace once the 2013 season starts.
 
"I just wanted to see where we are after 2 1/2 weeks into practice," said Towson head coach Shawn Nadelen. "The first week, we were shaking off the rust, getting some things installed on the basic end. We brought in 16 fresh faces to the team so it's a pretty new group that we're facing. I wanted to see how we competed, how we executed and what we had in. We did some solid things but there are a lot things we need to work on."
 
On Saturday, Oct. 6, Towson travels to Alexandria, Va. to compete in the Play for Parkinson's at Episcopal High School. The Tigers will face Air Force at 10 a.m. and then Virginia at 12 p.m. This tournament is expected to utilize the new rules that were just implemented for the 2013 season, highlighted by new regulations to prevent stalling.
 
In the old rules, if the officials determined that a team was stalling on the offensive end, they had to keep the ball in the box. Now, once the stall warning is called,  a shot must be taken within 30 seconds. A valid shot is defined as an attempt to score that is on goal (for example, saved by the goalkeeper, hits the goal cage, goal scored). If the 30 seconds expires without a shot on goal, the ball will be awarded to the defensive team. The old rule of keeping the ball inside the so-called box has been removed.
 
But instead of having a shot clock, the offiicials will start their own 20-second timer and if there is no shot, a 10-second hand count will be administered by the official closest to the ball. Obviously, this puts a lot of pressure on the officials.

"I'm excited that they are increasing the speed of play," said Nadelen. "The shot clock is a good thing. The way it's installed right now with a referee's timer and then a hand count, I'm not a fan of. I'd like to go to a visible  shot clock that comes after a stall warning. We just have to adjust to a couple of things and we'll be in good shape. It gives more of an opportunity to get up and down [the field]."
 
The Tigers were also led in the scrimmage against Keio by junior Thomas DeNapoli, last year's leading scorer, who had two goals and an assist. Redshirt sophomore Rob Zoppo, who was flying all over the field, added two goals.

Towson may end up starting three new attackmen with Sean Maguire and Matt Lamon graduating and senior Matt Hughes moving to midfield. That means somebody has to produce on the field and in leadership roles. That likely falls on a talented midfield led by DeNapoli and Zoppo.
 
"Those are two guys we are banking on and leaning on a lot," said Nadelen. "Robby gives us everything he has. Thomas stepped up his game [against Keio] which was a little bit different then what he showed in practice. We've been challenging him in practice and he rose to the occasion."
 
As for Saturday's scrimmages, Nadelen will have a chance to evaluate his young team against some very good competition.

"We're going to do some more installing in practice so we'll see where we are through Air Force and Virginia," said Nadelen. "The biggest thing how we are going to manage back-to-back games with a limited amount of guys on the offensive end. Guys will have to play attack and midfield. It's how we execute and compete. I'm not so worried about the scoreboard."
 
This is Nadelen's second fall as head coach and last year, there was a bit of an adjustment period, going from associate head coach/defensive coordinator to head coach. There was also an adjustment for the players who now know what to expect.

"It's been a lot more positive," said Nadelen about this fall compared to his first fall. "I think our guys understand what's expected of them. We've been progressing more and managing our time better. Our guys are excited and responsive to that."