No. 19 Towson's first 4-2 start since 2007 would appear to coincide with the improvement of its defense, and that is music to the ears of coach Shawn Nadelen, a former defenseman who played for Johns Hopkins and Team USA.
Under the tutelage of Nadelen and defensive coordinator Dan Cocchi, the Tigers have surrendered just 7.5 goals per game so far, ranking eighth in Division I in that category. They are also tied for 19th in man-down defense after killing 12 of 17 extra-man opportunities and ranked 19th in caused turnovers at 7.5 per game.
"You always hope that your defense plays well," Nadelen said Thursday morning. "Myself being a defensive-minded coach, I think having a strong defense is really important for your team's success. The fact that we have our goalie [redshirt junior Tyler White] back from last year, as well as quite a few starters at the close position and our younger but experienced defensive midfield unit, I feel like those guys are really working well together and understanding what we're asking of them and how they can play effectively together. Coach Cocchi has done a terrific job of really getting those guys on board with the scouting reports and game plans."
Nine of the top 10 defenses in the country have given up fewer than 32 shots per game, and Towson is part of that group, giving up 31.2 attempts per game. Nadelen said the number of shots and goals allowed are related, but also pointed out that UMBC scored seven goals on 22 shots in the Tigers' 11-7 victory on Saturday.
"Luckily, they didn't get more shots off because they were scoring at a pretty good clip," Nadelen said. "Whenever you can limit a team's opportunities to get shots off, I think that's going to help you to be able to keep them off the scoreboard more. So, I think those two are related, but it also depends on the quality of shots that teams are getting, as well. Some teams are just going to take a lot of shots and hope that they're shooting on-cage that day. Other teams are a little bit more selective in their shooting."
The defense could get stronger with the return of sophomore short-stick defensive midfielder Tyler Young. The Arundel graduate has sat out the past two contests due to post-concussion symptoms, but Nadelen said signs are pointing to Young (11 ground balls and three caused turnovers) being available for Saturday's home game against Hobart.
"Tyler's a pretty smart player," Nadelen said. "He's versatile. He's a guy that obviously plays good defense for us, but he can clear the ball, plat wings on faceoffs, be a threat in the transition game. He actually was a first-line midfielder for us for a while in his freshman year. So he's got skills there. He's a little bit more of a complete midfielder as opposed to some of those other guys. So I like to think that [his presence] gives us more versatility."