Off to a 1-5 start, Towson's hopes of securing their first NCAA Tournament bid since 2007 essentially revolve around their play in the Colonial Athletic Association.
The Tigers open conference play against Delaware (5-4) on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Johnny Unitas Stadium, and they must finish among the top four teams in the league to qualify for the CAA Tournament and have a shot at capturing the automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament.
Coach Tony Seaman said after last week's 7-6 loss to then-No. 11 Loyola, the team is treating Saturday as the start of a season within the regular season.
"I always think that the very toughest time to talk to your team is immediately after any game – win or lose – because you're just so emotionally peaked at that time. You've got to be so careful with what you say," Seaman said. "But the thing we emphasized in the locker room after that game about how frustrated we all were was that now we're 0-0 in the CAA. It's a brand-new start, a first day in a new life. We've got to look at it that way Saturday, and it's huge. We've got to practice and get ready for Delaware. … Everybody's good, but everybody's 0-0. So that's good."
One issue the team is trying to address is a lack of punch on the offensive side of the field. The offense has scored just 54 goals, which averages to 9.0 per game. The unit has been getting outscored in the second and fourth quarters this season, posting nine and six fewer goals in those periods, respectively.
"We've just got to finish shots," Seaman said. "We're not good enough offensively to miss opportunities. We get as many possessions as the other team, we get as many really, really good chances, but we don't finish the ball, and we lose the game by a goal."