A 1-3 start notwithstanding, one of Towson's bright spots thus far has been the emergence of freshman defenseman Ben Strauss.
The 6-foot, 175-pound Strauss has started in the Tigers' past two games and played solidly. In last Saturday's 12-8 loss to No. 5 Maryland, Strauss shut out junior attackman Ryan Young. Young did finish with two goals, but the first occurred against a short-stick defensive midfielder and the second came when the defense tried to double-team the Terps offense in the final minutes of regulation.
In Tuesday night's 10-9 victory over No. 17 Navy, Strauss allowed junior attackman Andy Warner to record just one assist and zero goals.
After that game, Strauss said his mental approach for each opponent remained unchanged.
"It's my match-up," he said. "I don't look at their names or what they did. I just go out there and play lacrosse."
Coach Tony Seaman has been effusive in his praise of Strauss, who downplayed his performances.
"It feels pretty good, but I feel like any one of my teammates could do the exact same thing," he said. "We're all just as good. I don't know what [the coaches] were thinking when they did it. They might have seen a little something extra, but everyone here is just as good. … I'm just happy to be a part of it."