TOWSON, Md. – More than two weeks after opening their season at Kent State University, Coach Rob Ambrose and the No. 12-ranked Tiger football team returns to Minnegan Field at Johnny Unitas® Stadium when the Tigers host Colonial Athletic Association rival William & Mary (0-2, 0-0) on Saturday, September 15 at 12 noon.

The Towson-William & Mary game will be nationally-televised on the NBC Sports Network. Todd Harris is the play-by-play announcer while Ross Tucker will handle the color commentary. Carolyn Manno is the sideline reporter.

The game will also be aired on the Tigers’ web site, www.TowsonTigers.com with Spiro Morekas and Ron Meehan calling the action. The Tigers’ internet broadcast also features a one-hour pre-game show.

When the Tigers host William & Mary on Saturday, they will be seeking their eighth consecutive win in a home opener. Towson has not lost its home opener since 2004 when Northeastern beat Towson. The Tigers have an all-time record of 33-10 in home openers.

Saturday’s game will be “Hometown Heroes Day” with members from the Maryland National Guard, Wounded Warrior Project, Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs, Towson University Veterans Services, Fort Meade, and Baltimore County Police and Fire Departments participating in a special pre-game ceremony honoring America.

Prior to the National Anthem, members from the participating organizations will walk out onto the field holding a piece of American History – the National 9/11 Flag. Found in the aftermath of World Trade Center attacks on September 11, the National 9/11 Flag has been experienced by over 300 million Americans. The flag has been on a journey across America, stopping in each of the fifty states to be stitched back together by local heroes.

The National 9/11 Flag is steeped in history stemming out of the tragic 9/11 attacks. It has been stitched by survivors of the 2009 shooting at Ft. Hood in Texas, by World War II veterans on the deck of the USS Missouri in Pearl Harbor, and by the family of Martin Luther King, Jr. It has also been stitched by Members of Congress and by thousands of everyday service heroes nationwide. Recently, a piece of the flag that Abraham Lincoln was laid to rest on was stitched into the fabric of this truly meaningful flag.

At the conclusion of the pre-game ceremony, the National 9/11 Flag will be on display on the South Concourse located inside Unitas Stadium.

Saturday’s game will also be Banner Day as the Tigers’ 2011 Colonial Athletic Association championship panel on the scoreboard will be unveiled.

The Tigers, who posted a 9-3 record last season and won the CAA with a 7-1 mark, had their bye week after their season-opening loss at Kent State. Coach Ambrose said the bye week was very beneficial to the team.

“The bye week was actually good for us,” says the Tigers’ fourth-year coach. “We spent the time working on focus, fundamentals and ball security. We also got a few players healthy. These are guys who weren’t able to play at Kent State.”

Last season, the Tigers beat William & Mary in Williamsburg, handing the Tribe its first-ever loss to Towson. Prior to the Towson victory, William & Mary had beaten Towson seven times in a row.

When the No. 15 Tigers handed No. 14 William & Mary a 38-27 last year, they improved to 6-1 overall and reached the halfway mark of their CAA schedule with a 4-0 record.

The Tribe comes into Unitas Stadium with an 0-2 record. William & Mary has dropped a pair of close games, dropping a 7-6 decision at Maryland and falling to Lafayette, 17-14.

“William & Mary’s defense is very good,” says Coach Ambrose. “At Maryland, their defense played out of its mind. They were truly impressive. Their loss to Lafayette doesn’t reveal too much because of the weather issues. We expect William & Mary to come into Unitas Stadium fully revved up to make everyone forget we actually beat them once.”

Turnovers and special teams mistakes were very costly at Kent State. The Tigers turned the ball over six times as Kent State converted those turnovers into 27 points. On special teams, the Tigers gave up 155 yards on kickoff returns and fumbled twice.

Senior quarterback Grant Enders (right) led the Tiger offense at Kent State. He completed a career high 26 passes in 36 attempts. Enders threw for 251 yards and a touchdown.

After falling behind by 17-0 in the opening ten minutes at Kent State, the Tigers didn’t run the ball as much as they planned. Although sophomore Terrance West was held to 36 yards on 14 carries, he did score two touchdowns. In 2011, West led NCAA FCS with 29 touchdowns scored. West has scored at least two touchdowns in his last nine games and now has 31 career touchdowns.

On defense, senior defensive end Romale Tucker and sophomore linebacker Kenton Powell led the Tigers in tackles at Kent State. Tucker and Powell are tied for the team lead with six tackles each.

The Tigers’ game against William & Mary is the first of two consecutive home games. Next week, Towson hosts its Homecoming Game against St. Francis (Pa.) at 7 p.m.

TIGER TALES:  Saturday’s game is the second of six Tiger games that are scheduled to be televised … It is also the Tigers’ first appearance on the NBC Sports Network … Towson’s games at Villanova and Delaware later this season will also be televised by NBC Sports Network.

Although the Tigers dropped a 41-21 contest to Kent State, they actually outgained the Golden Flashes … Towson had 331 yards of total offense while Kent State had 267 yards … Towson also had 20 first downs while Kent State had 15.

With 273 yards of total offense at Kent State, Enders ranks second in the CAA in that category … He is also second in the CAA with 251 passing yards.

TOWSON MEN’S LACROSSE TO HOST KEIO UNIVERSITY SEPT. 26

Tigers will face off against the Japanese team at 7:30 p.m. at Johnny Unitas ® Stadium

TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University men’s lacrosse team will host Japan’s Keio University for a friendly international game on Wednesday, Sept. 26 at 7:30 p.m. at Johnny Unitas® Stadium, head coach Shawn Nadelen announced today.

“Towson Lacrosse is very excited to host Keio University,” said Nadelen. “It is the premier lacrosse-playing school in Japan.  Keio is very passionate for the sport of lacrosse, and it is displayed in how they perform on the field.  We are honored to have Keio at Towson, and our players will share in a great experience playing against the Japanese players.  We look forward to having a competitive game. “

Keio University is visiting Towson as part of a larger trip abroad to gain playing experience and participate in cultural exchange. The team has a long history of visiting the U.S. for friendly games and of hosting U.S. teams in Japan. Keio University students were instrumental in founding and promoting lacrosse in Japan.

The Keio University lacrosse players have experienced some success on the international level, playing for the bronze medal at the 2010 Federation of International Lacrosse Championship in Manchester, England.

- TowsonTigers.com -

TOWSON, Md. - The next time Towson fans come to Johnny Unitas Stadium ® to cheer on the Tigers, the field will have a new look! Construction began on May 21 to install FieldTurf Revolution, the latest design in synthetic grass.

The new surface will be an upgrade in durability, hold color better and provide the opportunity to update the graphics on the field with new design from Towson design and publication.

The construction is schedule to be done in mid-June and upon completion, the surface will compare favorably to any playing surface in the country.

As of Friday, May 25, nearly three quarters of the old field turf has been stripped and the process of preparing the field for the new turf will get underway early next week.

Check back to TowsonTigers.com in the near future for updates and pictures as the new turf is being installed.

Honorable Mention: WNBA-Chicago Sky @ Washington Mystics (Saturday 7pm Verizon Center); Mixed Martial Arts: UFC on FUEL TV 3-”Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung vs. Dustin Poirier (Tuesday 8pm from Patriot Center live on FUEL TV); Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Final-Josh Barnett vs. Daniel Cormier (Saturday 10pm from San Jose live on Showtime); Bellator Fighting Championships 69 (Friday 8pm from Lake Charles, LA live on MTV2); Golf: PGA Tour HP Byron Nelson Championship (Thursday & Friday 3pm live on Golf Channel, Saturday & Sunday 3pm live on CBS. All golf from Irving, TX), LPGA Tour Sybase Match Play Championship (Thursday & Friday 6:30pm Saturday 3pm Sunday 4pm from Gladstone, NJ live on Golf Channel); Pro Lacrosse: MLL Chesapeake Bayhawks @ Hamilton Nationals (Friday 11am from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada live on ESPN3.com); Tennis: ATP Tour & WTA Tour Internazionali BNL d’Italia (Tuesday-Saturday 6am Sunday 7:30am from Rome live on Tennis Channel); Women’s College Lacrosse: NCAA Tournament-Loyola @ Maryland (Saturday 12pm Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex)

10. Infieldfest feat. Maroon 5, Wiz Khalifa, Little Big Town, The Darkness (Saturday 11am Pimlico Race Course); New Edition (Sunday 7pm 1st Mariner Arena); Black Keys/Arctic Monkeys (Friday 6:30pm Merriweather Post Pavilion), Lucinda Williams/Drive-By Truckers (Saturday 6:30pm Merriweather Post Pavilion), Lady Antebellum/Darius Rucker (Sunday 5:30pm Merriweather Post Pavilion); Styx/REO Speedwagon/Ted Nugent (Friday 7pm Jiffy Lube Live); Buckcherry/Foxy Shazam (Thursday 7:30pm Power Plant Live), Mr. Greengenes (Friday 8pm Power Plant Live); 2 Skinnee J’s/All Mighty Senators (Friday 8pm Rams Head Live); Kenny Wayne Shepherd (Tuesday 8pm Rams Head on Stage, Thursday 8pm Howard Theatre); Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros (Tuesday 7pm 9:30 Club), SOJA (Friday 7pm Saturday 8pm 9:30 Club); Fishbone (Thursday 7pm State Theatre); Less Than Jake/Ballyhoo! (Friday 8pm Rock N Roll Hotel); Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival feat. Jonny Lang, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Big Head Todd and the Monsters (Saturday & Sunday Sandy Point State Park); Justin Jones & The Driving Rain (Monday 7pm Ottobar); Night of 1000 Dylans (Friday 7:30pm Creative Alliance); Tenacious D “Rize of the Fenix” available in stores/on iTunes (Tuesday)

Totally underrated Black Keys tune? “I Got Mine.” See you at MPP Friday night…

If Maroon 5 promised to not play a song they’ve released in the last 10 years I’d be excited to see them Saturday. But if they did nothing but tunes from “Songs About Jane” I would be in…

If you haven’t seen Darius Rucker play country music, you’re going to have to trust me. He kicks a little ass…

I’m hoping Justin Jones will stop by the studio Monday. He’s quite talented…

9. Brian Regan (Friday & Saturday Warner Theatre); John Henton (Thursday-Saturday Baltimore Comedy Factory); Bobby Slayton (Thursday-Sunday DC Improv); “The Dictator” (Wednesday), “Battleship” and “Crooked Arrows” (Friday) open in theaters; “The Grey” available on Blu-Ray/DVD (Tuesday); Preakness Crab Derby (Thursday 12pm Lexington Market); Preakness Frog Hop (Wednesday 12pm Patterson Park)

Crab races? Okay I guess. MUCH more kickass? PIG races.

And as far as the frog hop goes, I think you already know which frog I’ll be pulling for…

TOWSON, Md. – Penn State University (12-6) used a strong start to open the second half and pull away from the No. 8 Towson University women’s lacrosse team and post a 15-8 win in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Minnegan Field at Johnny Unitas Stadium.

The Tigers (16-4) finished the season with a program record 16 wins. Penn State advances to the second round of the tournament to face No. 1 Florida.

“This one stinks right now,” said Towson Coach Sonia LaMonica. “We had a great season and I have a lot of pride in this team and the adversity we have overcome.”

The game featured the return of former Towson coach Missy Doherty to campus. Doherty coached Towson for seven seasons before moving to Penn State.

“It was more exciting to win with this team,” said Doherty. “I obviously like those players (Towson) a lot and I respect those players a lot. It’s not an easy team to have to come in and coach against because I recruited a lot of those players to Towson. I think there was a great pride in Penn State today and I was really proud of our girls.”

The Tigers scored the first goal of the game as sophomore attacker Andi Raymond scored her 34th goal of the year. Penn State (12-6) responded by scoring five straight goals to take a 5-1 advantage with 18:18 remaining in the half. Molly Fernandez had three goals for the Nittany Lions during that run.

A goal from sophomore midfielder Kelly Murkey at 17:30 put a halt to the Penn State flurry. Murkey’s goal was followed by scores from junior midfielders Ashley Waldron and Kelly Custer to make it a 5-4 game with 7:35 to play in the half. Mackenzie Cyr pushed the Nittany Lions’ lead back to two goals, 6-4 with 3:26 to go until the break.

Raymond scored with 10 seconds remaining, sending the home team into the break trailing 6-5.

Penn State outshot the Tigers 16-8 in the first half while controlling eight of the 12 draw controls.

The Nittany Lions opened the second half on a 5-0 run to take control of the game, building an 11-5 lead with 21:09 to play. Haley Ford had three of the five goals Penn State scored during that run.

Towson disrupted the Nittany Lions’ run with back-to-back goals from Waldron and sophomore attacker Ashleigh Rohrback. Rohrback’s goal at 17:25 made it an 11-7 game. Penn State scored four of the last five goals in the game to make it a 15-8 final.

Goalkeeper Dana Cahill made six saves in the win for Penn State. Senior goalkeeper Mary Teeters made seven saves in her final collegiate action for the Tigers. Freshman Kelsea Donnelly made one save in 11:28 of work.

The Nittany Lions finished the game with a 28-17 advantage in shots while controlling 14 of the 25 draw controls in the game.

Fernandez and Ford led Penn State with three goals each while Maggie McCormick had a goal and three assists.

Raymond, Waldron and Custer each scored two goals in the game for the Tigers while Murkey had a goal and an assist.

Towson loses Teeters and seniors Sarah Appelt and Shannon Kennedy to graduation but returns four of the top five scorers next season.

Honorable Mention: Boxing-ShoBox Yudel Jhonson vs. Willie Nelson (Friday 11pm from Las Vegas live on Showtime); Mixed Martial Arts: Bellator Fighting Championships 68 (Friday 8pm from Atlantic City live on MTV2); Roller Derby: Charm City Roller Girls (Saturday 5:30pm Du Burns Arena); Soccer: MLS-DC United @ Houston Dynamo (Saturday 4:30pm from Houston live on NBC Sports Network); Pro Lacrosse: MLL Rochester Rattlers @ Chesapeake Bayhawks (Saturday 7pm from Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium live on ESPN3.com); Tennis: ATP Tour/WTA Tour Mutua Madrid Open (Tuesday-Friday 7am Saturday 5am Sunday 9:30am from Madrid live on Tennis Channel); Preseason WNBA: Connecticut Sun @ Washington Mystics (Monday 7pm Verizon Center)

10. Red Hot Chili Peppers (Thursday 7:30pm Verizon Center); Avett Brothers (Friday 8pm Patriot Center); Go-Go’s (Tuesday 7pm Rams Head Live), Andrew Bird (Wednesday 7pm Rams Head Live); Eve 6 (Saturday 7pm Recher Theatre), Lit (Sunday 5:30pm Recher  Theatre); Fear Factory (Saturday 7pm Sonar); ALO (Saturday 8pm 8×10 Club); Mike Doughty (Wednesday 8pm Rams Head on Stage), Dar Williams (Saturday 6pm & 9pm Rams Head on Stage), Kenny Wayne Shepherd (Monday 8pm Rams Head on Stage); M83 (Saturday 7pm & 11pm 9:30 Club), Cranberries (Monday 7pm 9:30 Club); The Maine (Saturday 7pm Fillmore Silver Spring); Esperanza Spalding (Saturday 8pm Howard Theatre); Carolina Chocolate Drops (Thursday 7:30pm Birchmere), Chris Isaak (Monday 7:30pm Birchmere); The Gourds (Wednesday 8:30pm State Theatre); Feist (Wednesday 8pm Strathmore); M3 Rock Festival feat. Night Ranger, Kix, Ratt, Queensryche, Skid Row, Warrant, Quiet Riot, LA Guns, Great White (Friday & Saturday Merriweather Post Pavilion), Rob Zombie/Megadeth (Sunday 3pm Merriweather Post Pavilion); DC101 Chili Cook-Off feat. Incubus, Cake, AWOLNation, Angels & Airwaves, Airborne Toxic Event, Neon Trees (Saturday 11am RFK Stadium); Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (Thursday 7pm Friday & Saturday 8pm Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts); Glenn Frey (Monday 8pm Warner Theatre); Silversun Pickups “Neck of the Woods” available in stores/on iTunes (Tuesday)

One of the highlights of my life was getting a MySpace message from the Eve6 drummer. Seriously.

Mike Doughty is super talented.

I’m not really a Rob Zombie type of guy. I’m such a Rob Zombie type of guy though.

I know a guy who worked as a telemarketer his senior year at Perry Hall High School and sang “Short Skirt Long Jacket” by Cake into multiple answering machines. That guy was me.

9. Brad Sherwood/Colin Mochrie (Friday 8pm Modell Performing Arts Center at The Lyric); Christopher Titus (Friday & Saturday Baltimore Comedy Factory); Colin Quinn (Tuesday & Wednesday DC Improv); “Dark Shadows” in theaters (Friday); Baltimore Tattoo Arts Convention (Friday-Sunday Baltimore Convention Center); Preakness Celebration Balloon Festival (Thursday-Saturday Turf Valley); Foodie Experience feat. Andrew Zimmern (Saturday 3pm France-Merrick Performing Arts Center at the Hippodrome)

Colin Quinn is pretty funny. That said, Colin Quinn was never really all that good on Weekend Update…

Hey! Kat Von D has tattoos! Why don’t a post a picture of her here and just move on already…

TIGERS TO HOST PENN STATE IN NCAA TOURNAMENT

Towson to Host NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history 

TOWSON, Md. – The Colonial Athletic Association Champion Towson University women’s lacrosse team will host Penn State University in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The game will be played on Saturday, May 12 at 3 p.m. in Johnny Unitas Stadium.

The Tigers (16-3), who will be playing in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time since 2005, will be hosting an NCAA Tournament game for the first time in program history.

“Obviously this is super exciting for us and the program,” said Towson coach Sonia LaMonica. “To have a chance to play at home where we have had success this season is great for the team.”

Towson will face a familiar opponent in the first round as the Nittany Lions (11-6) are coached by Missy Doherty. Doherty coached the Tigers for seven seasons before heading to Penn State prior to the start of the 2011 season. She had a 79-46 record in Towson and won three CAA Championships and made four NCAA Tournament appearances with the Tigers.

The Tigers, who earned the eighth seed for the Tournament, won their program record 10th straight game on Saturday night with a 15-5 victory over Monmouth in the NCAA Play-In game.  Sophomore attacker Andi Raymond is one of seven Tigers to have scored at least 15 goals this season. Raymond has 66 points this season on 33 goals and 33 assists. Fellow sophomore attacker Ashleigh Rohrback has contributed 26 goals and 22 assists. Senior goalkeeper Mary Teeters leads the team with an 8.13 goals against average and a .513 save percentage.

 “Penn State is a good team that had some quality wins this season,” said Coach LaMonica. “The chance to get to face Missy (Doherty) will add a special aspect to this game for us.”

Penn State earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament after falling to Johns Hopkins, 13-12 in the first round of the American Lacrosse Conference Tournament. Mackenzie Cyr and Maggie McCormick lead the Nittany Lions with 55 points each this season. Cyr has 33 goals and 22 assists while McCormick has contributed 28 goals and 27 assists. Dana Cahill had a 9.93 goals against average and a .491 save percentage.