For all of its strengths as a program — and there are many at a school known for winning with patience, precision and rugged play — Towson isn’t the most likely team to come to mind when it comes to rolling up lopsided defeats.
So last week’s 17-5 throttling of Navy was an eye-catching result.
“As I told the guys, it showed us what we’re capable of and the work that goes into getting to that point, so continue to build on that and challenge ourselves every day in practice with the way we practice and competing against each other, as well as understanding the game plan, understanding the scouting reports, understanding the preparation that goes into that,” coach Shawn Nadelen said.
Coupled with a 15-5 rout of Mount St. Mary’s on Feb. 10, it marked the first time since 2004 the Tigers (2-1) won consecutive games by double-digit margins.
What isn’t startling is Towson relying a bit more on its offense early this season. Yes, it still has mainstay defenseman Colby Barsz, but there are some relatively untested players at that end of the field.
Meanwhile, the Tigers are prospering in part because of some hard-earned experience last year.
Graduate student Nick DeMaio was already a proven player going into 2023, and he followed up a 36-goal season in his first year with the Tigers after transferring from Maryland with a 29-goal, 21-assist effort.
His last two games have been especially encouraging — three goals and three assists against the Mount, then four goals and five assists to have a hand in more than half of Towson’s goals against Navy.
DeMaio was the USA Lacrosse Division I Men’s Player of the Week for his performance.