By Chris Vaccaro
It seems like déjà vu. Last year, a Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) semifinal loss against Towson University ended a disappointing Pride season. This year, the Pride again lost to Towson on Saturday and now must settle for the fourth seed in the upcoming conference tournament.
Last Saturday’s 10-6 loss at Unitas Stadium in Towson, MD., didn’t hinder the Pride’s chances at making a bid for the NCAA Tournament, but it will have to face second-seeded University of Delaware (9-4, 4-1 CAA) in the first round of the CAA Tournament, which begins on May 4.
The No. 14 Tigers (9-3, 4-1), who earned the second seed for the tournament, manufactured a 4-0 run towards the end of the third quarter, which carried to the fourth and didn’t allow the No. 17 Pride (6-7, 3-3) to muster any offensive production in the final stages of the contest.
Entering the game the Pride didn’t appear to have the same aggressive mindset as previous contests.
“We’re disappointed in our performance,” head coach John Danowski said. “We were somewhat tentative, and played not to lose, rather than to win.”
Pride freshman goalie James Tuohy allowed the first goal of the game just 59 seconds in, as sophomore midfielder Keith Obloj scored to give the Tigers an early one-goal lead.
The scoring see-sawed continued throughout the rest of the quarter as each team countered with goals. Senior midfielder Ryan Vilar scored his 12th goal of the season from 14 yards away for the Pride, while sophomore Athan Iannucci added to his team lead in goals after a crisp pass was received from freshman midfielder Mike Unterstein.
However, the Tigers wouldn’t allow the Pride to hold the lead for long as Nick Williams scored on a man advantage, and Bobby Griebe also scored to make the score, 3-2, after one quarter.
On the same roll from the first quarter, the Tigers scored another goal as freshman Kyle Batton netted a shot 3:40 into the second.
With 4:26 remaining in the second, junior Ryan Lucas notched his 12th goal for the Pride to cut the deficit to one goal and head into halftime with a solid offensive flow. The Pride out shot the Tigers 15-7 in the second quarter, while also grabbing 10 groundballs compared to Towson’s three.
Keeping in mind the number of attempts allowed during the second, the Tigers came out with a different game plan. They scored two goals in the first 3:30 of the third quarter, as Griebe scored again and Jonathan Engelke scored his 20th of the year, putting the score at 6-3.
The Pride answered back as Tim Treubig netted his 13th of the season on a 15- yard shot, and junior Rob Bonaguro scored his 11th of the season with 1:04 left in the third.
Trailing by one goal, the Pride had an opportunity to equalize the score but couldn’t control the ball. The Tigers’ Todd McMullen scored with only 30 seconds remaining in the third, and Kevin Rutledge scored his first goal of the season with eight seconds left, leaving the Pride in a small hole with just one quarter left to play.
The Tigers weren’t done yet. Kyle Fiat scored with 5:49 left in regulation and Brian Vetter with 2:58, all but guaranteeing the Tigers victory. With only self-pride left to play for, Ianucci scored his 21st goal of the season for the Pride’s final tally of the night.
One reason for the inconsistent flow on offense is because of the Pride’s trying too hard at all stages of the contest.
“Everyone is trying to make the big play,” Danowski said. “We’re trying to hit home runs instead of singles and pressing too hard at times.”
Another noticeable problem throughout the game was the lack of face-offs won by the Pride. Len Panarelli won two of 11 he took, while Joe Mascaretti won just 1 of 9. The Tigers’ Matt Latonick was extremely successful in all 20 he took, winning 17 of them. During practices earlier in the week the Pride was working on face-off drills, yet couldn’t perform when they were in a live game situation.
“We have to get healthy,” said Danowski, who is unsure if he’ll sit players in the regular season finale against Harvard University. “We’re beat up physically and have to get better. When we win, we play better as a unit. When we lose, it’s because we’re not together at all.”