Towson Field Hockey Bounces Back With Dominant 1-0 Shutout of Maine

By Brian Hradsky

The Towson Tigers field hockey team responded from Friday’s loss in convincing fashion Sunday afternoon, shutting out the Maine Black Bears 1-0 at the TU Field Hockey Complex.

Graduate student Delfina Larripa scored the game’s only goal at 36:46, while Towson controlled virtually every statistical category. The Tigers outshot Maine 17-1, put 12 attempts on goal and allowed the Black Bears to generate just one penalty corner.

The victory moved Towson to 4-6 according to the university’s recap and gave the Tigers a 4-2 home record. The official box score displays Towson at 5-6, creating a discrepancy in Towson’s own records; its cumulative statistics list the team at 4-6 after the Maine game.

Towson controls the game immediately

The final score may have been close, but the action on the field was anything but even.

Towson established possession almost immediately and earned two penalty corners within the opening five minutes. Anouk Westerink tested Maine goalkeeper Annabel Halkes from the top of the circle on the second opportunity, but Halkes made the save.

Westerink and Larripa continued generating pressure as the quarter progressed. Towson attempted five shots during the opening 15 minutes and put four on goal, while Maine did not attempt a shot.

That pattern continued into the second quarter.

Larripa received a ball in the middle of the Maine circle during the opening two minutes and produced consecutive attempts, but Halkes stopped both. The Black Bears’ goalkeeper became the primary reason the game remained scoreless despite Towson controlling possession.

Towson finished the first half with a 10-0 advantage in shots. Six of those attempts were on goal, but Halkes stopped all six to send the teams into halftime tied 0-0.

Larripa finally breaks through

Towson came out of halftime with even more pressure.

The Tigers put five shots on goal during the opening seven minutes of the third quarter. Eventually, the constant pressure became too much for Maine.

Olivia Thunnissen carried the ball down the left side before working her way into the bottom portion of the circle. She found Larripa in scoring position, and this time Halkes could not keep the ball out.

Larripa scored at 36:46, putting Towson ahead 1-0. Thunnissen earned the assist, her first of the season.

It was Larripa’s team-leading fourth goal of the season.

The graduate transfer has quickly developed into one of Towson’s most important offensive players. Following Sunday’s performance, she had 11 points on the season, becoming the first Tiger to reach double figures and tying her for seventh in the CAA in points at the time of Towson’s recap.

The Tigers had finally received the goal their performance deserved.

Now they needed to protect it.

Maine struggles to generate anything offensively

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Towson’s performance was what happened at the other end of the field.

Maine entered Sunday’s game at 4-4 after losing 3-0 at American on Friday. Before that defeat, the Black Bears had beaten Dartmouth 1-0 for their third shutout of the season.

Against Towson, Maine could barely get near the Tigers’ goal.

The Black Bears attempted their only shot of the afternoon during the third quarter, and it was not on target. Maine did not register a shot in the first, second or fourth quarters.

Towson goalkeeper Riley Redding therefore finished with a shutout without needing to make a save.

Redding earned her fourth victory and second shutout of the season.

That is a tremendous reflection on Towson’s defense.

A goalkeeper recording zero saves can sometimes look strange in a box score, but in this case it tells the story of how thoroughly the Tigers prevented Maine from creating dangerous opportunities.

Towson nearly adds insurance

Towson continued attacking after taking the lead rather than simply sitting back and protecting the 1-0 advantage.

The Tigers finished the third quarter with six shots, including five on goal. Maine’s Halkes continued preventing the game from getting away from the Black Bears.

Towson nearly doubled its lead early in the fourth.

The Tigers’ press forced a turnover high up the field, allowing Skylar Santucci to break toward the cage. Santucci fired an attempt on goal, but Halkes produced her 11th save to keep Maine within one.

Halkes’ performance deserves considerable credit.

She faced 12 shots on goal and stopped 11 of them. Without her performance, Towson’s statistical dominance could easily have produced a much larger final margin.

Maine makes one final gamble

With approximately three and a half minutes remaining, Maine pulled Halkes and inserted an additional field player in an attempt to find the tying goal.

Towson never allowed the strategy to pay off.

The Tigers maintained their defensive structure and prevented Maine from generating the equalizer, finishing off the 1-0 victory and Redding’s second shutout.

The final numbers were remarkably one-sided.

Towson held a 17-1 advantage in shots, 12-0 advantage in shots on goal and 5-1 advantage in penalty corners.

Halkes made 11 saves.

Redding needed none.

Yet Larripa’s third-quarter finish was all Towson needed.

Tigers respond after Fairfield loss

The performance was particularly encouraging considering what happened two days earlier.

Towson opened its three-game homestand by defeating Penn 4-3 on Sept. 20 behind a Larripa hat trick. The Tigers then suffered a 4-2 CAA loss against Fairfield on Sept. 25.

Sunday provided an immediate response.

Instead of allowing Friday’s loss to linger, Towson produced one of its most complete defensive performances of the season.

The Tigers had surrendered 27 goals through their first 10 games, including six against Maryland and six against American. Against Maine, Towson did not allow a single shot on goal.

That represents a significant turnaround.

Larripa continues to emerge

Larripa has quickly become a major piece of Towson’s offense.

She scored three times in the Tigers’ 4-3 victory over Penn before adding Sunday’s game-winner against Maine. Her four goals led Towson following the victory.

She has also contributed as a distributor, recording assists against Georgetown and Fairfield during the opening portion of the season.

Sunday demonstrated another important quality: persistence.

Larripa had multiple attempts stopped during the first half. Instead of becoming frustrated, she continued finding space inside the circle until Thunnissen created the opening she needed in the third quarter.

One opportunity finally got through.

That was enough to win the game.

Towson remains perfect against Maine

The victory also continued Towson’s limited but perfect history against Maine.

Sunday marked only the second meeting between the programs. Towson also defeated Maine 2-1 in 2003, meaning the Tigers improved to 2-0 all time against the Black Bears.

More importantly for the current team, Towson improved to 4-2 at home.

The Tigers have already produced home victories over Georgetown, Rider, Penn and Maine.

Finding that type of consistency at the TU Field Hockey Complex could become increasingly important as Towson moves deeper into conference play.

CAA road test awaits

Towson now turns its attention back to conference competition.

The Tigers are scheduled to visit William & Mary on Friday, Oct. 2, for their first CAA road game of the season. Towson’s recap lists a 3 p.m. start, while the page’s automated “Next Game” module displays 5 p.m., so the game time should be confirmed closer to Friday.

Towson entered the Maine game 0-1 in conference play after its 2-1 loss at Monmouth on Sept. 18.

Sunday’s result does not change the conference standings because Maine competes in America East, but it gives the Tigers some momentum before returning to CAA action.

MSB Take

A 1-0 final score does not fully explain how dominant Towson was Sunday.

The Tigers outshot Maine 17-1. They put 12 shots on goal while allowing none. They earned five penalty corners to Maine’s one and spent much of the afternoon forcing the Black Bears to defend.

The only thing keeping this from becoming a three- or four-goal Towson victory was an excellent performance from Halkes in Maine’s cage.

Larripa eventually made sure that did not matter.

Her fourth goal of the season gave Towson the breakthrough it had been searching for, while Thunnissen picked up her first assist of the year. From there, the Tigers’ defense finished what it had started.

This is the type of performance Towson should want to carry into conference play. The Tigers were aggressive offensively, controlled possession and gave Maine almost nothing at the other end.

After allowing four goals against Fairfield two days earlier, responding with a shutout and allowing zero shots on goal is about as convincing a bounce-back performance as Towson could have produced.