Owen Scott might have given himself the best kind of birthday gift.
On his 19th birthday, the freshman midfielder scored the goal that lifted Towson men’s lacrosse into a tie at the end of regulation and then another that capped a 13-12 double-overtime victory against visiting Loyola Maryland on Tuesday night before an announced 640 at Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson.
With 2:05 left in the second extra session, Scott collected a pass from junior attackman Mikey Weisshaar and rifled a shot from the right point past junior goalkeeper Max Watkinson to set off a raucous bench-clearing celebration.
“The whole game plan offensively was to overload one side of the field against their zone,” said Scott, a Sparks resident and Calvert Hall graduate who scored a career-high three goals. “That look through X over the top — the Elvis look is what we call it — it was kind of there all game. Mikey saw it and gave me a great pass, and I was able to just finish the shot.”
The Scott-Weisshaar connection worked earlier in the game. With the clock nearing zero at the end of regulation, Weisshaar, an Arnold resident and Archbishop Spalding graduate, curled the right post under heavy duress but managed to flick a pass to Scott, who beat Watkinson and the buzzer to knot the score at 12 and send the contest into overtime.
“The one where I was inside with a couple seconds left, he just put it right on the money for me,” said Scott, who has all seven of his goals and 10 of his points in his last five games. “That made it easy for me.”
Scott’s game-tying goal was not subject to official review because on-field video was not available to the officiating crew. Greyhounds coach Charley Toomey questioned why Towson did not have video available.
“Towson should have replay,” he said. “They don’t have it, but that’s not for me. I would have definitely thrown a flag or asked the referees to review it. It probably was good, but I don’t know. I would like to know for sure.”
MAYHEM IN TOWSON!! Tigers tie it up with a second to go@Towson_MLAX and @LoyolaMLAX headed to OT pic.twitter.com/gxiJyEd7qt
— Upstream Lacrosse (@upstreamlax) April 9, 2025
Scott had no such misgivings whether his goal was legal.
“I’m pretty sure,” he said.
After opening the season with five losses in six games, the Tigers (6-5) collected their fifth straight victory, including the first four against Coastal Athletic Association competition. They won their third consecutive overtime game — all at home — and defeated Loyola Maryland for the third time in the past five meetings.
Graduate student midfielder Chop Gallagher said the team is brimming with confidence.
“Definitely felt some lows at the beginning of the year, but it doesn’t really matter how you start, it’s how you finish,” said Gallagher, who led Towson in goals (four) and tied Weisshaar in points (five). “The only thing that matters is the CAA and winning games throughout the end of the season. So it’s huge. It’s a ton of confidence for us, and it’s nice to keep building on that for the rest of the season.”
In addition to Gallagher, Weisshaar and Scott, redshirt freshman attackman Ronan Fitzpatrick totaled one goal and two assists, and senior defenseman Joe Petro compiled six ground balls and three caused turnovers. Senior faceoff specialist Matt Constantinides won 18 of 26 faceoffs and scooped up eight ground balls, and senior long-stick midfielder Sam Morin grabbed 11 ground balls — the most by a non-faceoff player under coach Shawn Nadelen — to help the Tigers own a 19-10 advantage on draws.
Towson prevailed despite playing without two integral cogs on defense. Senior defenseman Conor Spagnolli (23 ground balls and 10 caused turnovers) and junior short-stick defensive midfielder Joe Meidling were held out because of minor injuries, which will likely prevent them from suiting up for Saturday’s game against CAA rival Hampton (0-12, 0-4 league).
Nadelen said that the team he saw in the first first five weeks of the season is much different from the version in the last five.
“I feel like we’re better understanding of who we are as far as personnel as well as what we’re trying to do that helps us be successful,” he said. “Early on, we weren’t 10-man riding. We had different personnel on the offensive end, especially at attack and midfield with different combinations. So we’ve kind of settled into a little bit more normalcy within our lineup even though with injuries and things, we’ve got guys in and out.
“But I feel like early on in the season, we still didn’t have a great identity, and we’ve learned and grown through the season to understand what that is and what we’re really good at and continue to work at what we need to improve on.”
Meanwhile, Loyola (1-10) suffered its fifth one-goal setback of the season. Goals by junior attackman Matthew Minicus and freshman attackman Mason Cook in a 1:41 span helped the team take a 12-11 lead until Scott’s heroics in the fourth quarter and second overtime period.
“That’s kind of the story of our season right now. Fighting, fighting, fighting, and then just one thing or another, the ball doesn’t bounce our way,” Toomey said. “I thought when we were down 5-2 [in the first quarter], we were playing a little bit lifeless. Then we got some life into us in the second quarter and made it a game. Then we went up in the third quarter and just couldn’t hang on for the victory.”
Minicus paced the Greyhounds with five points on two goals and three assists and Cook scored three goals. The defense was anchored by Watkinson, who made a game-high 17 saves, and senior defenseman Remi Reynolds, who racked up five caused turnovers and five ground balls.
But four days after a thrilling 12-11 overtime win at Patriot League foe Bucknell on Saturday, Loyola were haunted by costly mistakes. The team failed on seven of 30 clears and committed a game-worst 28 turnovers, including 17 after halftime. The 28th giveaway preceded Scott’s game-winning goal.
Still, Toomey believed that his players will not succumb to any exasperation.
“If frustration was going to set in, it was going to set in a long time ago,” he said. “We just focus on the learning process and not the result, and that’s how we’re kind of keeping our heads in this thing. Just keep getting better incrementally.”
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