One of the best offensive weapons for Towson's women's lacrosse team isn't even inside the restraining line.
The Tigers' overwhelming control off the draw yesterday led to long stretches of possession - not to mention momentum - as Towson scored goals in bunches en route to a 19-12 victory over UMBC at Johnny Unitas Stadium.
Controlling 24 draws to nine for UMBC gave the Tigers an edge right from the start, and that's one thing they were looking for, said junior Hillary Fratzke, who won four draws yesterday and holds the school career record of 190.
"One thing we really try and do is come off hard off the draw so you get that ball, because the best defense is a good offense," said Fratzke, whose team has a 97-60 edge over opponents on the draw this season.
"We wanted to be really intense on the 50-50 balls. Anything that was on the ground, even if it looked like we had the disadvantage, we were still going hard for it, because we didn't want them to have anything easy."
The Tigers (5-1) were looking to rebound from Tuesday's 12-10 loss at No. 20 Johns Hopkins, a game in which Hopkins seized the momentum early. Towson opened with a 2-0 lead, but Hopkins took off on a six-goal tear from which the Tigers never recovered.
Yesterday, Towson's defense did not allow the Retrievers (2-6) to score consecutive goals until the final eight minutes.
"Getting the draw helps you maintain momentum of the game absolutely," UMBC coach Courtney Connor said. "Certainly, we kept getting the ball back regardless of not getting the draw, but it makes it easier for a team to get the draw and get an offensive run."
The Retrievers, who had a 22-20 edge in ground balls, stayed within two goals until Towson ran off three straight late in the first half. The Tigers then opened the second half with another three-goal run to push their lead to 13-6.
Kelly Burgoyne brought UMBC within 13-7 on one of her four goals, but the Tigers answered with a five-goal spurt to all but put the game out of reach, 18-7, with 16:34 left. The Retrievers put together their only string of goals, four straight, to pull within 19-12 on Abbey Swift's goal with 3:20 to go.
The Tigers had four players who scored three goals: Fratzke, Nikki Marcinik, Lauren McAfee and Meggie McNamara. Fratzke, who has scored a point in every game of her career and has a goal in 31 straight games, also had two assists.
katherine.dunn@baltsun.com
UMBC 6 6 - 12
Towson 10 9 - 19
Goals: UMBC-Burgoyne 4, Levendusky 3, Swift 2, Linkous, Cook, Pappas; Towson-Fratzke 3, Marcinik 3, McAfee 3, McNamara 3, Woodfield 2, Taylor, McCausland, Minor, Bauer, Krause. Assists: UMBC-Braerman 2, Keelan 2, Paris, Swift; Towson-Fratzke 2, Taylor 2, Hammond. Saves: UMBC-Sweeney 2, Quick 10, Rau 0; Towson-Corry 0, Lean 9.