If not for the attack duo of Ryan Drenner and Joe Seider and faceoff specialist Alex Woodall and impact defenders such as LSM Tyler Mayes and short-stick midfielder Jack Adams, it’s safe to say that Towson University probably would not be preparing for the Tigers’ first trip to the NCAA tournament final four since 2001 and its third appearance overall.

Unseeded Towson, which took down seventh-seeded Penn State and second-seeded Syracuse to get to Saturday’s semifinal clash with no. 3 seed Ohio State, feeds off of its stingy, physical defense and its patient, opportunistic offense.

And, under sixth-year head coach Shawn Nadelen, the Tigers (12-4) have thrived with their versatility – notably in the form of two-way midfielders Zach Goodrich and Tyler Young.

Goodrich, a sophomore, earns his keep primarily by pairing with Adams to form arguably the most effective short-stick duo in Division I, as evidenced by their selections to the USILA All-America second team.

But the Tigers don’t hesitate to allow the 6-feet-2, 185-pound Goodrich an offensive run. He has scored seven goals on 27 shots in 2017. In Sunday’s 10-7 win over Syracuse, Goodrich drew a foul near the crease that led to an extra-man goal. He ranks second on the team in ground balls (46) and caused turnovers (17) for the nation’s third-ranked scoring defense.

Goodrich starred as a midfielder at Kent Island High School in Stevensville, Md., where he capped a two-time All-America career and helped Kent win a state title by tying a state record for most points scored in a state championship game.

“Zach is just an animal – so long, so athletic, so tough, so fundamentally sound,” says Towson defensive coordinator Danny Cocchi, a former Towson standout who had an 11-year run as a defensive midfielder in the MLL.
 

Young, a 5-feet-9, 190-pound senior out of Arundel High School in Crofton, Md., started at Towson as a defensive midfielder, where he logged significant minutes in 30 games over his first two seasons and made a major contribution as a faceoff wing in 2015. Goodrich replaced him in that role last year.

Young started all 19 games last year at offensive midfield. Two of his 18 points came on game-winning goals. This year, Young has scored 12 goals and grabbed 27 ground balls. And the Tigers are comfortable leaving Young on defense with Goodrich, if Adams is unable to join the defense when an opponent gets out in transition.

“Zach and Jack take every possible run they can [together], but I’m fine hustling back in the hole and getting stuck [on defense],” Young says. “Zach and I feel it’s great to have that two-way ability to play. I think the team feeds off of it.”

Tierney Defends Denver's Defense

It’s no secret that fifth-seeded Denver is living the good life with the best faceoff specialist in the game, as the Pioneers get set to face top-seeded Maryland on Saturday in the semifinals.

Denver beat Maryland, 10-5, to win its first and only title in 2015.

Junior Trevor Baptiste continues to enhance his already legendary college career. Baptiste is a first-team All-American for the third time and is a Tewaraaton Trophy finalist, while the Pioneers (13-3) have won an astonishing 75.7 percent of their draws behind his one-on-one dominance.

Denver’s 16-4 blowout of fourth-seeded Notre Dame essentially belonged to Baptiste, who went 21-for-22 from the faceoff dot. The Pioneers (13-3) also combined strong defense during an amazing stretch of 20 minutes, 24 seconds when the Fighting Irish did not take a shot.

Baptiste has been so overwhelming that it begs a question that gets asked among the game’s observers, be it in television booths or on social media outlets.

Between its high-powered and efficient offense and all of those extra possessions that fuel it, are the Pioneers hiding a suspect defense?

Head coach Bill Tierney had a sharp retort to that speculation. And it cut a little deeper than the statistics or the fact that midseason injuries to close defensemen Dylan Johnson and Dylan Gaines – they missed a combined nine games – interrupted the flow of the Pioneers unit.

Denver’s defense, led by senior and first-team All-America defenseman Christian Burgdorf, is allowing 8.75 goals per game and has held seven opponents to single-digit scoring – all victories.

Opponents are shooting 29 percent against the Pioneers. Then again, goalie Alex Ready (8.46 GAA, .484) has not exactly dominated.

“I think it’s [nonsense],” says Tierney of such talk. “I see our defense every day and how hard they work and I know how good my defensive coordinator [John Orsen] is. That stuff reminds of the days [at Princeton in the 1990s] when I had [Hall of Famer] Scott Bacigalupo in the goal and people would say that championship defense isn’t much, it’s all [because of] him.

“You can look at any great team and ask the same question,” he adds. “Where would Maryland be without Matt Rambo? What if Towson didn’t have Jack Adams or Woodall? Our main guy is a faceoff guy. I’m not going to apologize for having the best faceoff guy in the country.”

Burgdorf, a two-time All-American, seemed amused by such chatter.

“Our awesome offense is part of our defense, and yes, Trevor takes a lot of pressure off of us,” Burgdorf says. “But we feel like we’re hitting our stride at the perfect time. We don’t listen to the outside talk. People are going to pick on us about something. Keep [the criticism] coming.”

Muller's Progression Continues at Maryland

Maryland senior defenseman Tim Muller has nearly completed a perfect career progression. As a freshman defenseman out of Chaminade High in Garden City, N.J., Muller barely played in College Park. Then he converted to long-stick midfielder as a sophomore and was an important part of Maryland’s drive to the NCAA final.

Last year, Muller, 6-1, 215, went back to close defense and excelled as a third-team All-American by starting all 20 games and helping the Terps reach their third consecutive final four. On Thursday, as Maryland (14-3) was finishing preparations for its clash with Denver in the semifinals, Muller was one of four Terps named to the USILA All-America first team.

“I think playing up top [at LSM] gave me a good look at a different dynamic of the game, and our coaches did a great job getting me ready for that,” says Muller, who has covered the opponent’s top attackman throughout the past two seasons. He has scooped 30 ground balls, scored three goals and ranks second on the team with 15 caused turnovers.

“Tim was kind of unheralded as a [high school] senior. When he came here, we saw a lot of good things in him and a quiet confidence,” Maryland head coach John Tillman says. “When we lost Matt Dunn [on defense] last year, Tim really stepped up and became our no. 1 [cover] guy. Now, I’m talking to MLL guys who love his game.”

All that’s missing in the career puzzle for Muller is an elusive title. Maryland has not won an NCAA championship since 1975 – including back-to-back failures in the past two title matches. The Terps are 0-9 in NCAA finals since last winning that championship.

Nutrition Improves Withers' Game

A year ago, injuries primarily led to Ohio State’s 7-8 finish. It sure had little to do with faceoff specialist Jake Withers. He completed his junior season as the Big Ten Specialist of the Year and wound up ranked in the nation’s top 12 in faceoff win percentage (.607) and ground balls per game (7.27). Withers won 63.2 percent of his draws in conference play.

This year, the 15-4 Buckeyes have set a program record for victories. Two years after reaching the NCAA tournament quarterfinals under ninth-year coach Nick Myers, Ohio State is in its first final four.

The Buckeyes appear to be the most balanced team in the land and the most physical, not to mention slick and skilled and experienced. And the infusion of freshman All-America attackman Tre Leclaire – one of six All-Americans, led by the program’s first-ever first-teamer in junior defenseman Ben Randall – and a healthier 2017 has spurred them on to make program history.

Withers has produced an outstanding senior season as once again the top specialist in the league with the fourth-best win percentage in Division I (.661).

A co-captain, Withers, 5-11, 192, is quick with the clamp and has set the tone for Ohio State by running through and over contact. He was a force in Ohio State’s 16-11 whipping of Duke in the quarterfinals. His confrontation with Towson sophomore Alex Woodall, 6-1, 225, in Saturday’s semifinal is eagerly anticipated.

How did Withers, a native of Peterborough, Ontario and a product of Thomas A. Stewart High, improve his excellent game? Extra work and technical adjustments certainly have helped. But a revamped diet, thanks to the suggestions of a team nutritionist, has done wonders for Withers’ fitness and endurance.

“I hate to say it, but I used to crush one or two Coca Colas a day, and late at night, I’d eat pizza, wings, all of the above. Not anymore – maybe a treat once in a while,” he says.

“Now I drink water. I’ve traded white rice for brown rice. And I was fortunate enough to come from a household where my Mom didn’t let me leave the table without eating my vegetables. It’s easy to eat healthy if you commit to it.”

By the middle of Saturday afternoon at Gillette Stadium, one team will have emerged from the expected defensive scrum to play on Memorial Day, with a chance to win its school’s first national title.

Ohio State leads its series with Towson, 5-3. The teams traded one-goal, road victories in 2015 and ’16, before Ohio State came to Baltimore on March 15 and earned a 6-3 win on a bitterly cold Wednesday afternoon.

The Buckeyes are the only team to beat every team in this year’s semifinals round, although Maryland evened the score by edging the Buckeyes, 10-9, in a superb Big Ten title game.

The way Withers sees it, there is no way Ohio State will be looking past Towson.

“When I look at Towson, I think of a hard-working, blue-collar team – just like we are,” he says. “We both love dogfights, back-and-forth, punch-for-punch.”