No. 5 Tiger football routs Holy Cross behind balanced offense
Towson’s football Tigers lent more validity to their highest national FCS ranking in program history with a decisive win over Holy Cross at Fitton Field in Massachusetts. The team first earned the spot in their defeat of UConn on the road August 29.
Senior quarterback Peter Athens Saturday tallied his best single game statistical output of his career, completing 17 of 23 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns. Senior running back Terrance West, the reigning CAA Offensive Player of the Week, ran for 121 yards and two touchdowns, breaking the school record for most touchdowns in a Towson career. In 23 games, West has already scored 48 touchdowns.
“I was a little concerned about this game because everyone was still talking about the win over UConn,” head coach Rob Ambrose said. “But we have some very good football players with a lot of maturity. Holy Cross gave us everything they had and we able to win.”
Update: The Tigers have moved up to No. 4 in the nation according to rankings from The Sports Network.
For more about the Tigers’ victory, visit TowsonTigers.com.
Towson men’s golf sets school record at Navy Invitational
The Tigers shot a collective 274 on the links to clinch the 2013 Navy Fall Invitational over the weekend, setting a new record for single round team score.
Senior Joe Gunerman, the defending 2012 individual title champion, repeated in a playoff. Freshman Juan Veloza earned the third best single round score in Towson golf history with a score six under par at 65.
Towson’s success made it just the fourth team in tournament history to win the title more than once.
“The guys played not only well, but really smart this weekend,” said Towson head coach Brian Yaniger. “They made very few mental errors and that makes it much easier to score well. We need to remember this is only one tournament. When we get back to work this week, we need to work harder than we did before so that we continue to get better.”
Towson returns to action on September 21 at the Cornell Invitational in Ithaca, N.Y.
For more on the golf team’s historic win, visit TowsonTigers.com.
Women’s soccer competes in two non-conference games
The Tigers battled St. Bonaventure and Duquense this weekend in the Navy Invitational, recording a tie and a win respectively. On Friday afternoon, the Bonnies took Towson through two overtimes knotted at 2-2 before the final whistle blew to seal the tie. On Sunday afternoon at Navy Marine Corps Stadium, freshman Natalia Pinkney and junior Sofia Read each netted a goal in the final 10 minutes of the game to break past Duquesne for a 2-1 win.
In Sunday’s match, Duquesne scored quickly, tallying the opening goal just over a minute into the game. The Tigers and the Dukes were even for the rest of the match, with Towson taking eight shots in the second half before finally finding the back of the net.
“The big thing was we got caught sleeping [giving up a goal] at one minute, so at the half [the coaches] challenged [the players] to come out with energy, and they did,” head coach Greg Paynter said. “We controlled the game in the second half.”
For more about the Tigers’ weekend, visit TowsonTigers.com.
Volleyball travels to Raleigh, N.C. for three matches over weekend
After a long road trip south, the Tigers struggled against tough competition this weekend at the N.C. State Invitational. Towson opened the weekend with a hard fought 3-2 victory against Binghamton. Junior Saitaua Iosia recorded 15 kills and 12 digs for her first double-double of the season. It was the Tigers’ second consecutive victory, following a 3-1 win against Coppin State just three days earlier in the first match at SECU Arena.
But on Saturday, the Tigers struggled, falling 3-0 to Appalachian State and 3-1 to N.C. State.
Towson renews its local rivalry with UMBC when the team visits RAC Arena on Tuesday, Sept. 10.
For more about the Tigers’ trip and upcoming games, visit TowsonTigers.com.
Field Hockey splits weekend, captures first victory of the season
First-year head coach Carly Powell recorded the first win of her career on Friday when the Towson Tigers topped the Georgetown Hoyas, 3-2 in College Park, Md. The non-conference match saw three goal scorers, Sam Zelenack, Kelsey Jones and Kate Williams.
The Tigers jumped out to an early lead, taking a one-goal advantage into halftime, 2-1. Nearly 62 minutes into the game, Zelenack found an open shot, scoring unassisted to pad the lead and secure the victory.
Towson fell to Lehigh on Sunday afternoon at Johnny Unitas Stadium by a nail-biting 1-0 margin. The Tigers will now go on the road to face Virginia Commonwealth Friday in their next match.
For more updates on the Tigers’ season, visit TowsonTigers.com.
Women’s Tennis competes in Tiger Classic
The Towson University women’s tennis team completed its opening Tiger Classic tournament on Sunday with matches against Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Saint Joseph’s.
Though the results do not count towards the team’s overall win-loss record, Tiger head coach Doug Neagle was encouraged by his team’s early season progress.
“I’m taking a lot of positives out of this weekend,” Neagle said. “We got stronger as the weekend went on, which is a testament to our training. Our freshmen also showed me a lot of grit and determination.”
For more on the Tigers’ season, visit TowsonTigers.com.
