Contests

Towson achieved its preseason objective of qualifying for the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament. But the Tigers didn't do it with the kind of flourish they might have been hoping for. Towson (7-7 overall and 2-4 in the CAA) is in the midst of a four-game losing streak - capped by Saturday's 6-3 loss to conference foe St. Joseph's, a program that had yet to beat a league opponent. That all changed Saturday as the Hawks shut out the Tigers in the second and third quarters.

Mount St. Mary's is fully aware of the implications of Saturday road contest at Northeast Conference foe Robert Morris. Win and the Mountaineers (3-6 overall and 0-2 in the league) can vault into the race to finish in the top four and secure a spot in the season-ending conference tournament. Lose to the Colonials (8-3, 2-0) and the Mountaineers will be at risk of missing the postseason altogether after capturing last year's tournament championship. The idea of Saturday's meeting looming as a must-win situation isn't lost on coach Tom Gravante - or his players.

The first half of Mount St. Mary's 12-8 loss to Northeast Conference foe Quinnipiac Saturday has served as a microcosm for what's been ailing the Mountaineers lately. The team fell into a 4-0 hole by the time 2 minutes, 30 seconds of the second quarter had elapsed and despite rallying to trail by one at halftime, Mount St. Mary's never tied the score or took the lead. It's a troubling trend for the Mountaineers, who also found themselves in deficits of 3-0 and 3-1 to Drexel and Michigan, respectively.

Hazel Butler was a little unsure about whether she should enter the hat contest. When you're 90 years old, you don't take such matters lightly. The contest, a signature event at the 91st annual Flower Mart yesterday, attracted the usual cheery mix of birds, butterflies, Ascot clones, Edwardian finery and Carmen Miranda fruit baskets to Mount Vernon Place. But the brimmed straw-weave number on Butler's head was infinitely more modest. "I don't know if I should," she said as her potential competitors swooped by, feathers fluttering, to line up at the foot of the main stage in the Washington Monument's shadow.

The Tewaaraton Foundation announced Thursday the first of two rounds of additions to the Tewaaraton Award watch list, and Andrew Scalley of Mount St. Mary's is one of the three names added to the men's side. The senior attackman has registered 24 goals and 23 assists through eight games for the Mountaineers. The Arnold native and Archbishop Spalding grad has scored six goals in each of the team's past two contests, and he became the third player in school history to break into the 200-point club with 201 career points on 123 goals and 78 assists.

Maryland's Republican voters, long marginalized in the selection of the president, may have contributed to the tipping point in the long and unpredictable GOP nominating process. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney won the Old Line State easily, along with neighboring Washington, D.C. That was no surprise; the relatively affluent, urbanized electorate here has been a strong Romney constituency from the beginning. But the number of delegates Mr. Romney cleared from those contests and from what another win in Wisconsin should mark the beginning of the end of the 2012 primaries and foretell a shift toward the broader debate that will take place before November's general election.

WASHINGTON -- Amid a swirl of controversy over political money, the most expensive campaign in history is nearing a close with President Clinton a solid favorite to win re-election and the fate of the Republican Congress still up in the air.Clinton holds a comfortable lead over Bob Dole in the latest opinion surveys, as the president attempts to craft the concluding chapter of a remarkable comeback story that began two years ago when his party was humiliated...

Rob Guida's status remains uncertain as No. 12 Johns Hopkins prepares to meet No. 13 Virginia in the second game of the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic doubleheader at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore this Saturday. The junior midfielder had recorded one goal and one assists in two starts before missing the Blue Jays' last four contests. But coach Dave Pietramala said the program is not considering shelving Guida for the remainder of the season and applying for a medical redshirt. “I think you always have to weigh that option, and I think you always have to weight what's in the best interest of the young man health-wise,” Pietramala said Thursday morning.

Special section: The Sun previews tonight's Maryland-Kansas and Oklahoma-Indiana Final Four contests. [Section D ] Madness: Terps fans in Atlanta find healthy doses of free enterprise and Southern hospitality. [Page 1e]

It appears there's a frontrunner in the competition to be Cornell's starting goalkeeper. Sophomore Andrew West has started in each of the No. 3 Big Red's past two contests, and he has registered a 6.00 goals-against average and a .571 save percentage. While maintaining that senior Brian O'Donnell and junior A.J. Fiore are also options, coach Ben DeLuca conceded that he is inclined to start West against No. 1 Virginia at the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.