Towson fell to No. 17 Loyola, 13-7, last Saturday, but the outcome wasn't necessarily the fault of goalkeepers Andrew Wascavage and Travis Love, who split halves. And that's why coach Shawn Nadelen said the plan for Saturday's home opener against Mount St. Mary's is to use that rotation again.
"We're still going to split them," Nadelen said Thursday morning. "I don't know which one is going to go first yet, but I think we're still going to split the guys and hope that they continue to play well and earn the opportunity for that."
Wascavage, a junior, made nine saves and surrendered eight goals in the first half, while Love, a senior, made five saves and allowed five goals in the second half. Their performance was neither exemplary nor alarming.
"I don't think it was good or bad either way," Nadelen said. "Andrew saved some balls that he shouldn't have saved and he let in a couple of goals that he probably shouldn't have let in, but overall, he had nine saves in the first half and eight goals against. So he was definitely getting peppered. Walking away from that game, it wasn't about our goalies. It was about how Loyola was able to get its shooters free and put the ball on-cage, and they shot the ball incredibly well that day. Our guys defensively didn't do a great job of getting out to the shooters and challenging them to move their feet or dodge or anything like that. Andrew and Travis played about as well as they could've in the cage."
Nadelen also said that senior Matt Lamon would rejoin the starting attack of junior Matt Hughes and senior Sean Maguire. Lamon started the season opener against Jacksonville but took a back seat to junior Dan Kramer, who scored one goal on five shots and committed four turnovers in two starts.
"I just think it's something that has played out with the attack position and the way it's kind of been a battle with some of the guys down there," Nadelen said. "Matt has kind of risen to his opportunity to get out there and show that he can get it done again."