Towson has won four of five games in this series, but Georgetown won the last meeting in Washington, D.C., by a final score of 15-8 on May 16, 2004. The Tigers won last year's game, 8-7, on Feb. 22.
The Hoyas opened the season with a narrow 14-12 loss at No. 2 and 2014 national runner-up Notre Dame on Feb. 14. Senior attackman Bo Stafford scored a career-high four goals and added an assist in the losing effort. Georgetown is looking to avoid its first 0-2 start since 1987.
The No. 16 Tigers followed a 7-5 upset of then-No. 6 Johns Hopkins on Feb. 10 with Wednesday's 15-11 loss to No. 8 Loyola Maryland. Sophomore attackman Joe Seider's four goals were the most by a Towson player since March 29, 2014 when Seider scored four against Hofstra. Towson is seeking its first 2-1 start since 2007.
Here are a few factors that could play a role in the outcome at Multi-Sport Field in Washington on Sunday at noon.
1) Needing more from the midfield. Aside from redshirt senior midfielder Andrew Hodgson's four goals, the Tigers' starting midfield has struggled. Senior Greg Cuccinello, who recorded 20 goals and nine assists last spring, has scored just once and does not have an assist. Senior Justin Mabus, who posted 10 goals and 17 assists, has gone without a point. Coach Shawn Nadelen acknowledged that the offense needs more contributions from all six starters.
"We're creating opportunities, we're getting decent looks that we want," he said. "It's just being able to capitalize on those. The middies take a lot of onus on themselves, and the mids and attack have to work together. When they do that well, being able to share the ball is a good thing, and whoever has their opportunity, we're counting on them to capitalize."
2) Needing more from the faceoff unit. The offense has scored 18 goals in two games, but has not gotten much help from the faceoff unit, which has won just 44.4 percent (20 of 45) of the draws. Junior long-stick midfielder Pat Conroy has won 53.1 percent (17 of 32), while sophomore Alec Burckley has succeeded on just 23.1 percent of attempts (3 of 13). Nadelen said faceoffs are especially important to prevent opponents from going on runs.
"Possessions are needed when you're trailing," he said. "You need to be able to get those off the faceoff. We can't let a team score, get the ball back, and have another opportunity to score. So we've got to continue to work at it."
3) Needing more from the players. After enjoying an eight-day break between its first two games, Towson has to make a quick turnaround for Georgetown. The Tigers did get a bit of a reprieve when snow forecasted for Saturday pushed the contest back to Sunday, but the Hoyas will have had eight days to rest and prepare for Towson. Nadelen said the players must be focused on the task at hand.
"It's going to be a little more mental than physical at this point," he said. "[We have] to understand Georgetown and that they are a much, much improved team from what we saw last year. … That's a team that lost by two goals to the No. 2 team in the country, and they're going to be a team to be reckoned with. They're going to be at home, and they're going to be ready to play their first game at home. So we've got to get dialed up and get refocused."