Sports | 4/20/08

Media Credit: Patrick Smith Towson University attackman Bill McCutcheon fires a shot as he is crushed by a Villanova defender during the second quarter at Johnny Unitas Stadium Friday night. Villanova held the Tigers scoreless in the fourth quarter en route to defeating Towson for the first time, 7-4. [Click to enlarge]

Head coach Tony Seaman spent months making sure his players understood one thing: the game at hand is the most important one of the season. As his players walked off Minnegan Field Friday night with their heads hung low and sticks flailing in disgust, his message rang loud and clear.

The Towson Tigers had just lost the biggest game of the year, 7-4, to the Villanova Wildcats at Johnny Unitas Stadium.

"Every mistake we made all year long, we made tonight," Seaman said. "We threw the ball away. They did a good job with their possessions. We didn't do a good job with our possessions."

Despite a recent surge in offensive production and team confidence, the Tigers could muster only 16 shots on goal in 35 shots overall. Villanova sophomore Paul Webber scored the Wildcats' first three goals of the contest, and Towson was shut out, 3-0, in the fourth quarter as the team was all but eliminated from postseason play, dropping to 5-8 overall, 3-3 in the Colonial Athletic Association. In order to reach the conference tournament, Towson will need perennial CAA bottom-feeder Sacred Heart to defeat Delaware Saturday.

"We made a lot of dumb mistakes," Seaman said. "We ran out of the box when it was flag down. We ran out of the box when [we needed to] keep it in. We did not play smart all night."

The game began slow and remained throughout, as the Villanova defense stifled the Tiger attack while its offense controlled the tempo of the game in the Towson zone.

"The game plan today was to come in and slow things down," Webber said. "We knew that they were dangerous, and we couldn't really keep up the pace back and forth. We decided to slow it down and take good shots instead of a lot of shots."

While the Villanova defense succeed in controlling the game, the Tiger offense hit the Villanova goal post on three separate occasions, and twice Towson made shots that trickled past goaltender Andrew Diloreto and were dangerously close to the goal line before Diloreto covered them up.

"I thought their defense played very well, and their goalie made saves," Seaman said. "When he didn't make saves, the pipes made them for him, so that was pretty much the story of the game."

Webber scored 9:13 into the opening quarter, marking the 11th time in 12 games in which Towson's opponent scored the first goal. Towson evened it up with 2:26 left in the quarter when senior Jonathan Engelke rebounded the goal extending his streak to 12 straight games with a goal, 31 consecutive with a point. Senior Timmy Andre scored with 8:13 to go in the second quarter, but Webber scored his second of the game as R.J. Lyons got the first assist of the contest to tie it with 2:57 left in the half.

In the second half, the teams scored faster, despite the offenses still moving relatively slowly. Villanova led 4-2 by the 8:22 mark after Webber completed his hat trick and Tim Driscoll scored off a Webber assist.

"It's most important for the seniors," Webber said. "The seniors had lost one-goal games for three years against these guys, and this was a nice cap-off for them."

However, the Tigers responded with two goals of their own. Sophomore Brock Armour cut through the middle of the Nova defense to earn an unassisted goal, and with 12 seconds left in the period, Engelke scored on a deep shot from the right side of the net.

The Wildcats took the lead for good when Driscoll scored his 21st goal of the season with 10:20 left in the game.

Mark Scioscia and Tim Langan gave Villanova a pair of cushion goals with less than six minutes to go, and with just a minute remaining, the Tigers had conceded its first-ever loss to the conference rival. Engelke stood in the offensive zone, unable to keep the Villanova offense from stalling until time ran out, with his stick resting on the back of his shoulders.

After the final whistle blew, several Towson players stayed to greet friends and family just like they do after any normal game. But all they could do was smile politely and storm into the locker room, in stark contrast to the genuine euphoria the team experienced after its home victory over Delaware on April 5. Friday night, the field was completely clear of white-and-gold clad lacrosse players within minutes.

"We were desperate, and it didn't work out, and they played very well," Seaman said. "It's horribly disappointing. It's the last thing in the world I expected out of this team. You've got to take what life gives you; we got to get it together and finish up our two games."

The Tigers will conclude their season with two games this week. They face Johns Hopkins Wednesday night at 7 p.m.. Towson then hosts Pennsylvania Saturday at 1 p.m. before the annual TigerFest concert.

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