Four points in six starts is not what Justin Mabus had envisioned, but the senior midfielder can take solace in knowing that Towson is 4-2 and ranked No. 19 nationally.
"Of course, everyone wants to score and put up major points, but I'm happy with the wins," he said recently. "I'm not very happy with my play right now, but I know my teammates are there, and they're helping me out. So everything will come. If we just keep playing the way we're playing, I'm not too worried about it."
Mabus, a four-year starter and one of three team captains, has two goals and two assists thus far. It's a far cry from last season, when he set career highs in goals (10), assists (17) and points (27).
If Mabus is puzzled by the numbers, so is his coach, Shawn Nadelen.
"Justin's a kid who put in a ton of work this year and came to us in great shape and has physically been at his best than he's ever been," Nadelen said Thursday. "I know he's frustrated because he hasn't been able to capitalize on some opportunities that he's had. So I think he's continuing to work through it. Justin's great because he's been staying positive and continues to play well.
"Even though he's not putting the numbers on the board, he continues to do some decent things for us. He's not going to score three or four or five goals in a game for us, but he's a guy that's going to set up a lot of the opportunities to score with an assist or by making a [Wayne] Gretzky assist. I think he's starting to feel a little bit better with how he's playing, and I think that's just going to help with his confidence."
Mabus has taken just nine shots, the fewest by any Tigers offensive starter. By comparison, redshirt senior midfielder Andrew Hodgson has 54 shots, sophomore attackman Joe Seider 50, junior attackman Spencer Parks 29, sophomore attackman Ryan Drenner 27 and senior midfielder Greg Cuccinello 22. Even redshirt junior Ben McCarty, a member of the second midfield line, has taken 25 shots.
But Mabus said he is concentrating on getting his teammates involved.
"I'm more of the feeder or initiator," he said. "I feel like if I just keep doing those things, Andrew, Cooch, Ryan Drenner, Spencer, Joe Seider, they're going to find me and I'm going to find them and everything will end up clicking. So I'm not too worried about it. I would rather have the wins than the points right now."