During Shawn Nadelen's three-year tenure as Towson's head coach, the team has never won at least 50 percent of its faceoffs. In fact, the Tigers haven't won more than they've lost since 2009 when that squad won 55.1 percent.
So it's no surprise that Nadelen was candid in citing faceoffs as his primary concern heading into the 2015 season.
"That's my No. 1 priority," he said. "In order for us to continue to be successful, it's to lock down the faceoff position. That's been our Achilles' heel these past couple years."
Since Nadelen succeeded Tony Seaman as head coach before the 2012 season, Towson has won 48.7, 36.5 and 40.2 percent of its faceoffs. The team finished last spring ranked 58th out of 67 Division I programs in faceoff percentage.
Nadelen acknowledged the sense of frustration surrounding the faceoffs, but pointed out that this season will feature a pair of veterans in junior Conor Pequigney (39.5 percent in 2014) and sophomore Alec Burckley (45.8 percent).
"I think it's a few things," Nadelen said. "This year is the first year that we've actually had a junior in that role. We've dealt with some younger guys in that position and haven't been able to find an older guy who is a little more seasoned with that. With Alec Burckley being a sophomore and Conor being a junior and [junior] Jed Yousefi being in the mix as well and [Steven] Stillwell being that lone freshman, I think our guys are a little more developed and a little more understanding of what it takes. I think it will just balance out everything with our team if we can improve the faceoff position and be much better than we have been."
With 241 faceoffs, Pequigney is the more experienced faceoff specialist of the bunch, but Nadelen said he would prefer to rely on a duo to solidify the position.
"I think we have that right now," he said. "If it comes down to one guy in a game, we'll stick with that guy, and the other guys understand that we're going to go with the hot hand. So I think the guys are supportive that way, and they understand that when their opportunity comes, they've got to be able to step up and do what's asked of them."