Attack Mode: How Switching Positions Made Mikey Weisshaar More Dangerous

Sam Weisshaar, the older brother and former Towson men’s lacrosse teammate of junior Tigers star Mikey Weisshaar, said he had no doubt the younger, gifted, determined Weisshaar would adjust as a first-time attackman this spring following nearly two decades performing exclusively as a midfielder.

That included last year’s historically outstanding season authored in part by Weisshaar, whose explosive speed, unpredictable moves and two-handed mastery propelled the Tigers into their first NCAA tournament since 2019.

On the strength of a team-high 42 goals and 19 assists, Weisshaar became the first Tiger in six years to be named a first-team All-American (by Inside Lacrosse). He also was honored as a second-team member by USILA, while USA Lacrosse chose him as third-teamer.

Weisshaar, listed at 5-foot-9, 170 pounds, is the fifth Towson player to be named as a first-team All-American in the school’s 45-year history as a Division I program. He is the first Towson player recognized as such since defensive midfielder Zach Goodrich earned his second such honor in 2019.

It did not shock Sam Weisshaar that his brother was moved to attack in February, in a necessary shake-up of the Tigers’ struggling offense. Nor has it surprised him the way Mikey Weisshaar has responded by learning to run the offense with steady improvement in his role as Towson’s new quarterback.

Weisshaar, who officially made the switch to attack in the regular season’s third game at Navy on Feb. 16, has started 10 consecutive games at his new position. The Tigers are 9-1 in that stretch, including a current eight-game winning streak and a 7-0 showing in Coastal Athletic Conference play.

Against the CAA, Weisshaar the attackman has produced 26 goals and seven assists. He also ranks fourth on the team with nine caused turnovers.

Weisshaar, who recently was selected as a Tewaaraton Award top-25 nominee, once again is leading the Tigers (9-5, 7-0) in goals (39) and points (55).

Top-seeded Towson, which started the year at 1-5, will begin its quest for a second straight trip to the NCAAs on Thursday as host of the CAA tournament. The Tigers will face fourth-seeded Hofstra in the semifinals.

“Mikey was always the fastest guy and one of the most athletic — undersized or not. He still has a motor that never stops. He is never complacent. He has a real feel for the game. Always wants to exceed expectations,” said Sam Weisshaar, who is long been impressed by his brother’s adaptability.

“He has this great ability to watch something once, and re-create it in the backyard or at practice,” added Sam Weisshaar, who as a senior at Towson was joined by his brother as a freshman who spent every game he played on the first midfield line.

“Mikey never even played basketball until middle school. But he could watch a YouTube clip back then of Kyrie Irving or whomever, and he would duplicate their moves. I could never do that.”

Chop Gallagher, a Towson midfielder and graduate student, loved the dominant presence Mikey Weisshaar displayed on the Tigers’ first unit in 2024.

Gallagher understood and endorsed the position change wholeheartedly, since it allowed Towson’s best player to remain on the field for an entire game.

Weisshaar is finding more confidence anchoring the X spot behind the opposing goal. His new role also has unleashed more of Weisshaar’s skills in the riding game. He has generated nine caused turnovers in 2025, fourth-best on the team.

“Mikey has gotten pretty comfortable back there. It’s easy to play off him. We saw when he was a freshman that lots of good things happened when he had the ball in his stick,” Gallagher said.

“You can see the pure enjoyment [Weisshaar] shows playing the game,” he added. “Mikey does so much of his own [extra] work. He works at a different pace than others. He’ll make up great moves in practice. During one-on-one drills, he’ll do that hitch-over-the-top move of his and get away from his defender with ease. Every time I try it, I just get stood up.”

Senior defenseman Conor Spagnoli is thrilled he only must guard Weisshaar in practice.

He recalls Weisshaar’s injury-marred freshman season, following a knee injury he suffered in his first fall season in 2022. Spagnoli remembers how Weisshaar reasserted himself as a starter, how he dropped a hat trick at UVA in his first game, how he finished second among the team’s freshman scorers with 17 goals and 25 points in 13 games, 12 of them starts.

“We really felt his impact in his sophomore year. He takes the game very seriously,” Spagnoli said. “He is such a quick, twitchy dodger. He’s one of those guys who makes a good move before you get out on him with your approach. Every day in practice, he makes our defense better.”

Shawn Nadelen, Towson’s 14th-year head coach, credits Weisshaar with sharpening his lacrosse IQ during his transition to attack — where former Tigers star Nick DeMaio last year finished his fine collegiate career with an 82-point season that included 50 assists. Numerous Weisshaar goals happened with DeMaio supplying the feed.

“The creativity in college lacrosse is off the charts. Mikey is one of those guys who will make something up, just come up with a move on the spot,” Nadelen said. “He is a very instinctive player — so explosive with that first step and burst of speed that gives him an edge on a defender. He can stop on a dime, then really go.”

“Now we’re teaching him about angles from the X position. How to figure out quickly how a defense wants to stop us,” Nadelen added. “We needed a good dodging attackman who could really challenge a No. 1 defenseman and make the defense worry. He’s a dynamic player who is learning to understand what every other player on offense is doing around him.”

“I’ve watched a lot of tape of Nick DeMaio from last year. Why did he move the ball there? How did he get an absurd amount of assists? What did he see while he was watching the defense?” Mikey Weisshaar said.

“I just want to help this team win any way I can. That starts with trusting the coaches’ decision [to move to attack]. It’s a very different position,” he added. “It has taken me a bit to get used to it. Midfield is more tiring, with the dodging you have to do. At attack, there is much more IQ needed, along with plenty of dodging. You have to read defenses a lot differently.”

Matt Musci, who is in his sixth season as a Tigers assistant coach and is their offensive coordinator, said he has drilled down on the team’s offensive principles with the group — especially Weisshaar, given his inexperience at attack and quarterback. The film study has been extensive.

Weisshaar has had to adjust to his reduced operating spaces, where bigger close defensemen try to neutralize him. No longer is he primarily probing defensive rope units and typically hunting for shots up top or by roaming on the wings, with more open field to use.

Weisshaar is still setting up defenders and goalies with his quickness and moves that free him to rip unpredictable shots with either hand.

He is learning more to affect defenses with his off-ball play. Learning a different way to support an offense that includes redshirt freshman attackman Ronan Fitzpatrick (32 goals), Gallagher (34 points), Alex Roussel (20 points), Josh Weber (16 points) and redshirt sophomore attackman Ryan Schrier (17 points), his former teammate at Archbishop Spalding (Md.) High School and best friend since middle school.

Musci loves how Weisshaar is a natural magnet for early slides and double-teams, which he is exploiting more as a distributor.

Towson’s offense averages 12.36 goals. During the Tigers’ eight-game winning streak, they are averaging 14.6 goals.

“Midfielders have all that space. Now we need [Weisshaar] to run things, to control pace and tempo down there, and to pay closer attention to what the defense is trying to do,” Musci said.

“People are always paying attention to him, even when he doesn’t have the ball. He’s learning he can influence the game that [off-ball] way, by setting up his defender on the back pipe or front pipe, by being a guy inside,” he added.

“There are no egos fighting in our offensive room. Mikey is a fun piece to work with. He’s always playing with something to prove, with a fire in him to be great, and guys love playing with him. It’s his energy enthusiasm and edge.”

Nadelen first got a look at Weisshaar during his high school freshman season in 2019, when he watched Weisshaar play at Spalding. He was extremely impressed. He spoke to a coach from the Annapolis Hawks club team, who advised him to keep an eye on Weisshaar.

When Weisshaar suffered untimely injuries later in high school, it affected his recruiting process. But it did not deter Nadelen.

“Injuries held Mikey under the radar. But not to us,” said Nadelen, who got a commitment from Weisshaar early in his junior year in October 2020. Weisshaar went on to win the C. Markland Kelly Award in 2021 recognizing the best high school lacrosse player in Maryland. In 2022, he was named a USA Lacrosse high school All-American for the second time.

It helped that Towson runs in the family. Besides his older brother playing for two years under Nadelen, his father, Stuart Weisshaar, had played soccer at Towson, from where he graduated in 1994.

After Weisshaar overcame a knee injury he suffered at Towson in the fall of his freshman year and gave the Tigers a glimpse of what was to come with a strong comeback in the spring of 2023, he delivered much more a year later.

Last year, Weisshaar started all 17 games and ended the season with hat tricks in the CAA title game win over Delaware and at Syracuse, where the Tigers fell in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

That day at Syracuse, Weisshaar’s disappointment was tempered by the announcement that he had achieved first-team All-American status. By numerous accounts, he has never made a big deal of it. There is still much work to do.

“Obviously, getting that [recognition] is a really good thing. I’m very grateful for it,” Weisshaar said. “But you have to put in the work to get the accolades, and you still have to keep trusting the process and putting in the work every day. That doesn’t change.”