 "Photo: Matthew Sprague/The Towerlight")
A loss Wednesday to visiting Drexel would have ended the Tigers’ season. A hopeful season would have culminated in the most disappointing final game imaginable, and rumors already surrounding head coach Tony Seaman’s job security would have heated up.
Instead, the surprising Tigers turned in their most dominant performance of the season, crushing the Dragons, 10-2, at Johnny Unitas Stadium to advance to the CAA finals against upstart Villanova.
“I was just happy with everything tonight. I thought we just played our rear ends off tonight – ground balls, face-offs, we shot really well tonight,” Seaman said.
The Tigers scored the first nine goals of the contest, and Drexel was shut out for the first 52:12 of the game. Junior Rob Wheeler finished with 17 saves, the most for a Tiger goaltender since Reed Sothoron did it in 2004 against Virginia. It was also the fewest goals allowed by Towson since 2003, a 17-2 beat down that was coincidentally also against Drexel in the conference semifinals.
“I thought our defense was just terrific, and when it wasn’t terrific, [Rob] Wheeler made the save. I thought the thing just looked like a beach ball to him today,” Seaman said.
Wheeler put together a string of difficult saves near the end of the second quarter that helped preserve a four-goal halftime lead.
His hockey-like .895 save percentage was by far his best of the season.
“I got a lot of help early on from the defense, and that really helped me build my confidence, and then once I got going I felt unstoppable,” Wheeler said. “The defense just played unbelievable in the first half, and that really got me going.”
Junior Will Harrington led the way for Towson’s offense, scoring four goals, all in the third quarter. Senior Bill McCutcheon and sophomore Tim Stratton each had two goals and an assist, while Pat Britton also scored twice.
“We came out a little antsy, and we didn’t really play the way we’ve been wanting to play,” Harrington said. “We got together, calmed down a little bit, and we took our opportunities when they were there, and finished the ball.”
The game was scoreless until the 3:32 mark in the first quarter, when McCutcheon pulled a spin move that beat short-stick defender Kevin Dart and enable the attacker to send a point blank shot past freshman goaltender Mark Manos. Manos, a four-time CAA Rookie of the Week in 2009, earned 11 saves Wednesday.
“He’s an amazing goalie. He’ll probably be the CAA Rookie of the Year,” Harrington said.
McCutcheon wasn’t done in the quarter. Less than a minute later, the senior flipped a light pass over defenseman Scott Perri, and Stratton grabbed the ball up high just outside the crease. The easy goal put the Tigers up 2-0 after one period.
In the second, Brock Armour beat his defender for an unassisted goal at 8:36. Britton, one of the hardest shooters on the team, fired a laser from deep right to the lower right corner past Manos’ foot. Towson went into halftime with a 4-0 lead.
The Tigers, especially Harrington, came out with fire in the third quarter. The junior midfielder caught fire, scoring four of the game’s next five goals, giving the Tigers an insurmountable 9-0 lead. Britton scored the other goal in the third, again from deep right and again in the near bottom corner.
“We came out, and we were obviously feeling good about having a shutout from our defense. Coach Allan was calming us down in the locker room, telling us we were getting opportunities,” Harrington said.
Drexel got on the board when Kevin Stockel finally solved Wheeler and the Tiger defense on a man advantage caused by senior captain Randall Cooper’s illegal body check. Stockel’s goal with 7:48 left in the game was met with some cheers in the stands, but none on the field. The defeated Dragons could only show relief, not celebration. Colin Ambler scored with 3:43 remaining to make it 9-2, but Stratton got another goal 30 seconds later to put Towson into double digits and finish the game in a fitting manner.
With Villanova’s shocking victory over top-seeded Hofstra in Hempstead, N.Y., the second-seeded Tigers will host the conference championship game Saturday.
“I was hoping that would be the case,” Wheeler said. “I didn’t play my best game when we went up there and played them, and now I get a chance to redeem myself.”
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