Despite finishing tied for fourth in goals with 12 in 15 starts last year, Towson's Max Siskind was relegated to reserve status this spring, backing up sophomores Joe Seider and Ryan Drenner and junior North Carolina transfer Spencer Parks.
But Siskind got his first start of the season in Towson's road game against Binghamton on Saturday, and the redshirt senior led all scorers with four goals on just six shots in an eventual 9-8 win for the No. 18 Tigers (6-3).
Despite lining up on the team's depth chart as the fourth attackman, Siskind was still viewed as a valued member, according to coach Shawn Nadelen.
"Max was still getting on the field," Nadelen said Tuesday. "This year, he wasn't pegged as a starter, but he was getting out there. Definitely not as much as some of the other guys. On film, you don't see him on the field as much and maybe you don't pay attention to him that much, but I was just really excited for Max and for our team, for him to be able to bury the chances that he had."
Listed at 5 feet, 6 inches and 160 pounds, Siskind is four inches shorter than Parks and 15 pounds lighter than Drenner. But Nadelen said Siskind – whose father, Jules, is a member of the school's Hall of Fame and still ranks sixth in men's lacrosse program history with 156 points – doesn't play like he's undersized.
"Max plays with a tremendous amount of pride and grit," Nadelen said. "He's a young man that can do a lot of different things. He's one of the tougher guys to go against one-on-one because he's short and explosive. It's tough for D-guys to get a good handle on him. He's very good off-ball and works well on the crease and gets himself open there. He's absolutely tenacious on the ride. That's one of his overall strengths. He probably earns the ball back for us on the ride more than any other player on our team just because he's relentless at hounding the clearing team and does a good job of timing his checks and getting ground balls. Max is a very capable player for us."
Siskind's production was timely, as Towson played without redshirt senior midfielder Andrew Hodgson, who will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on an injured left knee on Tuesday. Nadelen said the offense will continue to need performances like Siskind's as the team dives into the Colonial Athletic Association portion of its schedule.
"We need guys to be able to put the ball in the back of the net," Nadelen said. "Andrew was one of those guys, and it's moreso that when we have the opportunities, we need to finish the plays. That's something that Max obviously capitalized on and did a good job of that. I wasn't looking to peg one guy and say, 'He's got to get three goals for us.' It's more that as the offense generates opportunities, the guys on the field need to finish the ball and capitalize on them. Luckily, Max was a guy who had the situations that he had and did a good job with them."