The number seven ranked Towson Tigers took down the first ranked Loyola Greyhounds 12-10 on Wednesday at Johnny Unitas Stadium in NCAA D1 play. The Tigers remain undefeated with a 4-0 record while the Greyhounds fall to 3-1.
Down 11-8 late, the Greyhounds made a late push to even the game. Chase Scanlan scored on a man-up opportunity with 3:09 left. Alex Johnson closed the gap to one less than a minute later, but the Tigers closed ranks after that.
Towson played as a team with heart, led by senior Brendan Sunday with four goals and one assist, while the Greyhounds relied heavily on Kevin Lindley, who single-handedly tried to keep them in it with six goals. Highly-touted prospect Pat Spencer had a goal and four assists for Loyola.
Towson jumped out to a 2-0 lead less than five minutes in on an underhand goal from Grant Maloof and a crease-dive goal from Sunday. The Greyhounds didn’t find the back of the net until the 8:05 mark and when they did it was Lindley finishing off the feed from Spencer. Towson tallied twice more for a 4-1 lead before Lindley and Spencer repeated their goal with 48 seconds left in the first.
Loyola outscored Towson 3-2 in the second but the Tigers still led 6-5 at halftime on the strength of a crease dive from Luke Fromert. Also in the frame, Sunday picked up his hat trick goal and Lindley scored his third and fourth of the game.
Lindley tied the game at six early in the third but Sunday restored the Tigers’ lead in the last minute of the quarter.
It was a close game in the fourth with three goals coming in the first two minutes. Fromert scored 29 seconds in to increase Towson’s lead to 8-6 but Lindley replied 45 seconds later to keep the Greyhounds within a goal. Forty-five seconds after that, Brody McLean restored the two-goal lead. Spencer scored his lone marker with 6:19 left. As each team fought for the final buzzer, Towson scored twice more in a span of eight seconds to go up by three.
Highlights for the Tigers included Alex Woodall’s incredible 20-26 record at the X. Woodall also picked up 14 ground balls and the assist on McLean’s game winning goal. Towson did well fighting through four minutes in penalties, allowing only two goals on five man-up attempts. Tyler Canto made 14 saves for the win in goal.
Photos by Laura Kupsey. More here!
