FAIRFIELD, CT (April 9, 2007) – The Towson men's lacrosse team scored twice in the last 30 seconds of the first quarter to ignite a 9-0 run as the Tigers dealt Sacred Heart a 17-5 loss on Campus Field in Colonial Athletic Association Wednesday afternoon. The Tigers got three goals apiece from Jonathan Engelke and Eric Boyle while Brock Armour, Ben Ganley and Phil Blevins each scored their first career goals. SHU got three goals from junior Dan Casciano (Syracuse, NY) as they fall to 6-4 overall and 1-3 in the CAA.

The first 10 minutes of play featured both teams struggling to shake off early turnovers and establish their offense. The Pioneers (6-4, 1-3 CAA) struck first with Casciano burying one unassisted at 4:59. SHU looked headed to the second quarter up 1-0 before some late Tiger heroics shifted the momentum.

Towson (4-6, 3-1 CAA) broke through with 31 seconds left in the quarter as Engelke buried his first off a feed from Brian Vetter. The Tigers took the ensuing face-off and struck pay dirt before the horn as Clint Brakebill delivered his first of the season with 10 ticks left to close the quarter and get his team off and running. The Tigers scored seven-straight to start the second quarter to take a 9-1 lead with 4:40 left. Towson out shot SHU 17-5 in the quarter and scored three man-up goals.

The Pioneers ended the run at 2:19 as sophomore Stephen Gerhard (Centennial, CO) buried a feed from senior Tony Tanzi (Mahopac, NY) to make it 9-2. Towson ended the half with their 10th goal, a Bill McCutcheon score from Engelke with just three seconds left to lead 10-2 at the break.

SHU tallied the first goal of the third quarter as Casciano buried his second of the day three minutes in to cut it to 10-3. The Tigers didn't let up and tacked on back-to-back Boyle goals at 11:19 and 6:23 for a 13-2 advantage. Casciano tallied his third at 3:48 to stop another Tiger run from taking off but an Engelke goal at 1:03 ended the quarter with Towson up 13-4.

The Tigers continue to roll into the fourth, tacking on three-straight off the sticks of Ganley, Blake Best and Armour for a commanding 16-4 lead. SHU's Gerhard scored his second at 1:30 before Blevins closed out the scoring with 33 seconds left to produce the 17-5 final.

Towson held a 50-32 advantage on shots and was a perfect 25-of-25 on clear attempts. The Pioneers committed 25 turnovers and had seven failed clears. Senior Ricardo Vargas (Falls Church, VA) posted a career-high 18 saves in the loss. Junior Zach Smith (Chittenden, VT) was nine-of-18 on face-offs.

Sacred Heart will be off until Saturday, April 19th when they travel to #10 ranked Drexel in CAA action.

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FAIRFIELD, Conn. - Led by three goals from sophomore Eric Boyle and senior Jonathan Engelke, the Tigers (4-6, 3-1) scored a season-high 17 goals en route to their second straight win, a 17-5 Colonial Athletic Association victory over Sacred Heart University (6-4, 1-3) at the Pioneers' Campus Field on Wednesday afternoon. It was the Tigers' seventh straight win over the Pioneers.

After a slow start, junior attackman Dan Casciano gave Sacred Heart a 1-0 lead with 4:59 remaining in the first quarter when he scored an unassisted goal past senior Billy Sadtler. However, the Tigers quickly responded and used goals from Engelke and junior midfielder Clint Brakebill in the final minute of the period to lead by a 2-1 margin. It marked the first time this season that the Tigers have led after the first 15 minutes.

The Tigers used a pair of goals from senior attackman Timmy Andre to ignite a seven-goal run and give Towson a commanding 9-1 advantage with 4:40 remaining in the second quarter. With 2:19 remaining in the period, the Pioneers snapped a nearly 18-minute scoring drought when sophomore midfielder Stephen Gerhard scored off a feed from senior midfielder Tony Tanzi.

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2008-04-09