Towson hope for NCAA bid
Written by Corey Atkinson, Wednesday April 29 2009
Towson kept its bid alive for an NCAA Division I playoff spot with a 10-2 victory over visiting Drexel on Wednesday night in a Colonial Athletic Association semifinal game at Johnny Unitas Stadium.
No. 2 seed Towson (7-8 overall, 5-2 conference) will host No. 4 Villanova in the conference championship game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Villanova upset top seed Hofstra, 9-7, in Wednesday night's other semifinal. The winner of the conference championship receives an automatic bid to the 16-team NCAA tournament. Villanova defeated Towson, 13-4, earlier this season.
Towson played excellent defense. Starting defensemen Marc Ingerman, Matt Richter and Michael Landy were physical and slid hard and often. The group also did a good job of pushing out on Villanova's attack and giving Wheeler good angles to make saves. Drexel didn't score until Kevin Stockel's goal with 7:45 left in the game. Wheeler finished with a career-high 17 saves.
While Towson dominated the game defensively, the offense was just as effective. Towson controlled the first two quarters and led 4-0 at the half. Freshman attackman Sean Maguire scored the first goal by beating Drexel midfielder Kevin Dart from behind the net with 3:32 left in the first period.
About 40 seconds later, Towson attackman Tim Stratton took a feed from behind goal by attackman Bill McCutcheon at the top of the crease to increase the Tigers' lead to 2-0. Towson outshot the Dragons 14-3 in the first quarter and might have scored more if not for Drexel freshman goalie Mark Manos, who was exceptional. He had five saves, most of them from point-blank range.
But Towson kept up the pace and the barrage in the second quarter. Towson midfielder Brock Armour, working from behind goal, scored from the right side with 8:36 left. Midfielder Pat Britton closed out the scoring for Towson with a runner just inside the restraining line with 6:37 remaining in the period.
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