Towson’s transition offense gave it plenty in the Tigers’ season-opening 15-7 loss at Johns Hopkins Saturday, with junior defenseman Koby Smith scoring twice and assisting two other times while senior defenseman Gray Bodden had an assist and ignited a few fast breaks even if he wasn’t credited with a point.

KOBY SMITH IS THE BEST ATHLETE ON THE FIELD.

Koby gets up in transition on a beautiful hockey assist from Canto to Bodden and #26 RIPS it home.


pic.twitter.com/tbpl1ToWXb

— TU Men's Lacrosse (@Towson_MLAX) February 8, 2020

It was everything else that was a problem.

Towson scored only twice in settled six-on-six opportunities, leaving the transition production as the Tigers’ primary means of keeping things close into the third quarter.

“It was a big part of our offense today,” said coach Shawn Nadelen, whose team also scored an extra-man goal. “Obviously, with regard to what we were able to do six-on-six, we weren’t able to generate a lot. They were half-sliding and not really committing, and we weren’t breaking guys down from the midfield. To their credit, they were challenging us there.”

US Lacrosse Magazine’s Matt Hamilton was at the game. Read his game story here.

Towson was without Grant Maloof and Austin Stewart, projected starters in the midfield. Nadelen said Maloof, who had 24 goals and 11 assists last season, will be back for Saturday’s home opener against Mount St. Mary’s.

Navy Going Deep at Midfield

One of the striking impressions from new coach Joe Amplo’s debut at Navy was a willingness to play a bunch of midfielders. Of course, it was anyone’s guess prior to last week’s 9-4 defeat of Manhattan who would actually comprise the Midshipmen’s midfield lines.

Navy leaned heavily on the since-graduated Greyson Torain and Ryan Wade and had minimal returning experience. It started Joe deLyra, Henry Rentz and Patrick Skalniak against the Jaspers, and each scored at least once. Both Rentz and Skalniak are plebes, while deLyra had two goals and an assist last year as a freshman.

The Mids also utilized their second midfield with regularity, as sophomores Augie Fratt and Ryan Magnuson and junior Logan Spilker saw extended time.

“We went deep into the bench there, and that’s a good thing,” Amplo said. “You guys have heard me say before it’s going to be a group, and to me, that’s the best part of it. There’s no one person we have to rely on, and hopefully the guys downstairs in the locker room realize that and they take that to heart.”

You can read more about Amplo’s Navy debut here.

The Week in Numbers

Syracuse sophomore attackman Chase Scanlan’s seven goals in a 21-14 rout of Colgate was the most ever for a player in his debut with the Orange. Scanlan transferred to Syracuse after playing for Loyola last season … Freshman Jonathan Dugenio debuted with 25 faceoff wins in the Red Storm’s 17-10 loss to Rutgers on Saturday … Lehigh sophomore Tommy Schelling’s seven goals in a 16-11 defeat of Utah was the most for a Mountain Hawk since Dan Taylor had seven against Lafayette on April 18, 2014 … Hobart’s 22-goal outburst against Canisius was its most in a season-opener since crushing Arizona 30-1 to open play in 1990.

3Q 14:54 | St. John's wastes no time getting their first goal of the second half. Mike Madsen fires his second goal of the game off of a faceoff win by freshman Jonathan Dugenio! #WeAreNewYorksTeam #EXPECTtoWIN pic.twitter.com/sFZAc9yLXd

— St. John's Lacrosse (@StJohnsLax) February 11, 2020