It was a huge weekend for Towson athletics, and it all started on Saturday afternoon with the Towson men’s lacrosse team winning the 2015 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championship with a 9-8 victory over Massachusetts.
The win gives the program its fifth title since the league began sponsoring the sport in 2002. It was the Tigers’ 11th win of the season, the most under Head Coach Shawn Nadelen and the most since the 2005 when the Tigers went 11-5.
During Sunday night’s NCAA Tournament selection show on ESPNU, Towson drew familiar foe High Point in a play-in game this Wednesday, May 6, at Johnny Unitas Stadium here at TU. The opening face-off is set for 7:30 p.m. More information is available on the athletics web site.
The winner of the Towson-High Point clash will face Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana this Saturday, May 9, at 5 p.m.
With under two minutes left and the game tied at eight, senior midfielder Justin Mabus scored the game-winning goal by going behind the back and low. Mabus finished the game with two goals, and wash amid to the All-Tournament team.
Sophomore Joe Seider was name the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after finishing the game with three goals. Greg Cuccinello also finished with two goals and was also named to the All-Tournament team. Senior defenseman JoJo Ostrander was also named to the All-Tournament team.
With the win the Tigers claimed the CAA’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament, which will take place starting May 9th.
Two Tigers ready to take on the NFL
Two former Towson football players will be taking the next step in their football careers after this weekend’s NFL Draft.
Tye Smith was selected in the fifth round of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Seattle Seahawks.
Cornerback Tye Smith was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the fifth round on Saturday afternoon. Smith is the sixth player from Towson to be drafted after being selected 170th overall.
Smith was a 2014 All-CAA selection and the final cornerback standing on the Buck Buchanan Award Watch list earlier this season. Smith led the Tigers with eight pass break-ups. He started all 12 games during his senior season, and his 85 tackles ranked second on the team. Smith ended his career with 312 tackles, fifth-most in Tiger football history.
While not drafted, Ryan Delaire will also try to achieve his NFL dreams after signing a free agent deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Delaire had 11 sacks, 14.5 tackles for loss and three forced fumbles while finishing as a third team All-American. The Connecticut native finished with 22.5 career sacks.
Other Athletics News
- The Towson women’s lacrosse team made a push at the end of the season, but fell to James Madison in the CAA Championship game on Sunday.
- After winning 24 of its last 29 games, Towson softball will be the No. 4 seed in the CAA Tournament. The double-elimination tournament starts Wednesday, May 6 with the Tigers taking on host and No. 1 seed James Madison in Harrisonburg, Va.
- Towson baseball won two of three in its last home series of the season against Northeastern. The Tigers are up against in-state rivals UMBC and Maryland this week.
