Towson can eliminate all of the guesswork from its aspirations for the NCAA men's lacrosse tournament.
The Tigers toyed with Drexel in the semifinals of the inaugural Colonial Athletic Association tournament last night, as they fired the first 12 shots, took a 14-0 lead into the final 20 minutes and cruised, 17-2, for the 200th victory of Tony Seaman's 22-year college coaching career.
Top-seeded Towson (7-5) stays at home for Saturday's CAA final against Hofstra, with an automatic bid to the NCAAs at stake. Win, and the Tigers' upperclassmen will have a chance to repeat the magic of 2001, when Towson went to the final four. Lose, and Towson will have to sweat out the selection of nine at-large teams.
"I didn't start thinking about Hofstra until after we dumped water on Coach," said Neil Adams, a veteran defenseman from Archbishop Spalding. "We came out flat in practice the last two days, but the seniors wanted to get it done and show that we want to go back to the final four.
"Some guys might talk about the final four, but I never do. Instead of talking about that, we have to win the games we should. We still haven't played 60 minutes, but we came close tonight."
Two years ago, Towson beat Hofstra in the final of the America East tournament. No. 11 in The Sun/Channel 2 rankings, the Tigers are four weeks removed from their best win, as they handled the seventh-ranked Pride, 15-8, on April 4. Hofstra has since won six straight, as it beat Villanova, 9-6, in last night's other semifinal.
Towson dropped to 1-4 against Top 10 foes last Saturday, when it collapsed in the final quarter of a 17-9 loss to No. 1 Johns Hopkins. Any residual frustration was vented on Drexel, which was making its first postseason appearance in at least three decades.
On April 19 in Philadelphia, Towson waited until the second quarter to run off five straight goals and jump-start a 17-9 win over the fourth-seeded Dragons (6-8). Last night, Ben DeFelice and Zak Smith dominated the faceoff X, the Tigers had a 6-0 lead by the 11th minute, and the only suspense revolved around the possibility of their first shutout since 1970, when Carl Runk's Tigers beat Georgetown, 16-0.
Outshot 60-20, Drexel finally scored with 4:53 left in the third period, when midfielder Dan Kennedy bounced one by sophomore goalie Reed Sothoron. Adams worked the wing on the ensuing faceoff and answered in 15 seconds, and Towson proved that the parity in college lacrosse doesn't extend to the CAA, where the Tigers have earned six of their wins.
On a night when Seaman wished the NCAA didn't limit the number of players coaches can use, senior attackman Ryan Obloj collected three goals and an assist.
"I'm old," said a soggy Seaman, when asked to assess the 200th college win in a career that began at C.W. Post in 1982. "That's a lot of great years, a lot of great kids."
Drexel 0 0 2 0 -- 2
Towson 6 4 6 1 -- 17
Goals: D--Kennedy, Morgan; T--Objoj 3, Spear 3, Adams 2, Lochte 2, Pfarr 2, Chane, Florio, Mull, Rutledge, Zumpano. Assists: D--Filippone; T--Monaco 2, Baxter, DeFelice, Fountain, Obloj. Saves: D--Harney 15, Walls 4; T--Sothoron 5, DeGroat 3. A: 442.
