The absence of goalkeeper Travis Love from Towson's season-opening 12-10 win at Jacksonville Feb. 11 startled many fans and observers, who had assumed that the two-year starter would man the net again for the Tigers.
Turns out that there was good reason for the fifth-year senior's absence: he was serving a one-game suspension for violating what coach Shawn Nadelen called a team policy.
"He broke a team rule," Nadelen said. "That's the reason why he didn't make the trip and why he didn't play. But ultimately, I still think I would've played Andrew [Wascavage] just because of the way Andrew had been playing. Travis was suspended for that first game due to team policy infractions, but Andrew did earn the opportunity as well."
Wascavage, a junior, has started both of Towson's games this season, making eight saves in the victory over the Dolphins and then making a career-best 11 stops in Friday evening's 12-6 loss to No. 4 Johns Hopkins.
Love has not been made available to media to discuss his thoughts on being demoted, but Nadalen acknowledged that it has been frustrating for the Westminster native and Winters Mill graduate.
"Last week, when I told him Andrew was starting, he was not happy at all, and I wouldn't expect him to be," Nadelen said. "But he understands that. It's a not a personal decision. It's for the team's success. I told him that he's got to continue to keep working and get that edge back that he had in the past. If he shows me that he's ready, then he'll have an opportunity."