Towson Zones in, Captures CAA's Regular-Season Title

TOWSON, Md. — The road to a Coastal Athletic Association title still goes through Towson.

The Tigers clinched an outright regular-season title for the second consecutive season Saturday, transforming what was a frenetic game for 20 minutes into a methodical 14-9 victory over Fairfield before 1,813 at Johnny Unitas Stadium thanks to a mid-game switch to zone defense.

“A little bit of that decision was seeing how that was unfolding, seeing with a little bit of lead if we would be able to slow it down and allow us to play off that defensively and allow our goalie some better opportunities to make some saves,” Towson coach Shawn Nadelen said. “He did a good job, and the pipe helped us a few times, too. These guys defensively were prepared for that.”

Mikey Weisshaar had four goals and two assists, and Luke Downs made eight of his 11 saves in the second half for the Tigers (8-5, 6-0 CAA), who have won 15 consecutive games against league opponents since the start of last season and 17 conference regular-season contests in a row dating back to the 2023 season.

Towson will play host to the CAA tournament on May 1 and 3. Drexel, Fairfield and Hofstra are tied for second at 4-2 and have all clinched tournament berths with one regular-season game remaining.

Joe Petro caused five turnovers, the most for a Towson player since Chad Patterson had five against Fairfield on April 28, 2018.

“They went almost the whole second half zone, which really slowed us down,” Fairfield coach Andrew Baxter said. “We knew they’d been a zone team throughout the year, and we felt like we were prepared for it but didn’t execute nearly to what we needed there.”

Keegan Lynch, Rob Moore and Luke Okupski each had two goals and an assist for the Stags (11-2, 4-2), who could have earned conference tournament hosting rights with a defeat of Towson and then a victory at home against Monmouth next week.

Fairfield appeared to be the more dynamic team while building a 4-2 lead in the first 10 minutes. And while Weisshaar supplied some answers in creative ways — one goal off Elijah Smith’s pass after the defenseman cleared it and then looped around the goal, another with a feed from faceoff man Matt Constantinides — things were fluid enough for Fairfield to tie it at 7 with 6:53 left in the first half.

It would be the Stags’ last goal for more than 33 minutes. Towson went up 8-7 before the break, and Constantinides then scored four seconds into the third quarter. Weisshaar’s goal off a restart with 55 seconds left in the period made it 10-7, providing a hint of a cushion on the scoreboard.

In reality, it was already enough given Fairfield’s struggles to negotiate the Tigers’ zone.

“It definitely slowed it down, stopping them in transition first to start,” Petro said. “We’re a rangy team, a long team, so getting in those passing lanes and knocking balls down is a key part of zone. I think it just slowed them down and got them out of what they wanted to do. We’re comfortable with it and can play either one.”

The watchword of the day for Fairfield? Uncharacteristic.

The Stags entered the day clearing at an 87.8 percent rate; they botched five in the first three quarters. They scored at least a dozen goals in every game since the start of March and couldn’t crack double figures. They had topped 20 turnovers just once all season, and even that was the second game of the year; against Towson, Fairfield had 23 giveaways.

“It’s a big learning day, just in terms of how every play out there matters,” Baxter said. “Every pass, every ground ball. We have to obviously look at the film to figure out how we can do better. Now we know how they’re going to try to neutralize us if we do have an opportunity to play these guys again.”

If there is a second meeting, it will be at Towson. The Tigers, fresh off going 13-4 and earning their first NCAA tournament berth in five years last season, scheduled aggressively in non-conference play in the hopes of building an at-large case if they required it this year.

An 0-4 start — with losses to Johns Hopkins, Syracuse, Navy and Saint Joseph’s — dashed any realistic chance of that even before February concluded. But Towson has won seven in a row after Saturday’s victory, figuring things out in time to secure another CAA regular season title.

“These guys work hard to be ready every day and every game,” Nadelen said. “To be able to stack enough wins in conference to earn that is meaningful for these guys. They step on the field ready, and it’s been exciting seeing that process and progress over the season.”