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Opening day of the 2026 NCAA Division I men's lacrosse season is Jan. 31.
Throughout the month of January, we'll pose three burning questions for each team ranked in the USA Lacrosse Division I Men's Preseason Top 20, presented by CWENCH Hydration, starting with No. 20 Michigan and finishing with No. 1 Maryland.
Join the conversation on social media @USALMag (IG/X/FB). Wrong answers only.
Coaches recruit for depth. Injuries reveal it.
When Towson attackman Joaquin Villagomez fractured his ankle on the first possession of the 2024 CAA championship game, it opened the door for Alex Roussel and a revelatory seven-point performance at Syracuse in the NCAA tournament.
And when it became evident Villagomez would not recover from surgery in time for the 2025 season, the Tigers threw freshman Ronan Fitzpatrick into the fire. He responded with a 43-goal CAA Rookie of the Year campaign.
As a result, Towson now boasts one of the top attack units in the country. Two-time All-American Mikey Weisshaar (48 goals, 24 assists) the alpha role and Fitzpatrick slots in as the slippery lefty who feasts on secondary defenders. A 6-foot-6 behemoth, Villagomez has returned to the righty attack position from which he amassed 60 goals in two seasons.
“He really attacked the fall, getting back into the mix,” Nadelen said. “It’s fun to see him back on the field just being a menace.”
The Tigers’ offense was middle of the pack (12.29 goals per game) last year. With Villagomez back in the fold, co-captain Ryan Schrier will likely move from attack to midfield. With Owen Scott and Roussel also manning the midfield, Towson could be elite in 2026.
“If they can continue to do what they've done this fall, continue to mesh and gel, they’re going to be a formidable group,” coach Shawn Nadelen said.
Versatile too. Weisshaar was one of the top midfielders in the country before he moved to attack. Schrier and Roussel have toggled between midfield and attack. There’s a positionless element to the Tigers’ offense.
“That’s how we recruit,” Nadelen said. “It doesn't matter if they're running out of the box or starting on attack. If they get a short stick, we're dodging them. Mikey played midfield his first year. We transitioned him to attack last year, and he's still got that ability to play above and below the cage. Having those guys who can float, fill and play is helpful for sure.”
Towson has reasserted itself as the dominant force of the CAA, going undefeated in conference play the last two years while making consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. Here are three questions going into 2026.
Nadelen’s teams are known for tough-nosed defense. But the Tigers went from having the nation’s second-stingiest unit (9.12 goals allowed per game) in 2024 to being ranked 49th (11.53) in 2025 and have given up 20-plus goals in NCAA tournament first-round defeats at Syracuse and Princeton.
To that end, the fact that Towson graduated four defensive starters — including honorable mention All-American Joe Petro — and its starting goalie might not be a bad thing. A complete rebuild. Still, Nadelen said, “That’s a significant amount of experience, talent and leadership that’s gone out the door.”
The Tigers’ only true fixtures are Elijah Smith, the 6-3 long pole turned close defenseman, and co-captain Joe Meidling, a short-stick defensive midfielder.
Towson prepared for this by redshirting four defensemen — David Bertoline Jr., Drexton Frank, Hayden Goscinski and Ryder John— as freshmen last year. Junior Jake Law started 11 games at close defense. True freshmen Roman Dodson (SSDM) and Tanner Levin (D) could also play meaningful minutes.
Expect the Tigers to flex a few players between close defense and long-stick midfield before settling into a rotation.
A redshirt junior, Matt Nilan has appeared in eight games with two starts while serving as Luke Downs’ backup. He has flashed at times, including stopping seven of 10 shots in the second half of a win over Hofstra last year. And he has the pedigree, having been named the 2022 Suffolk County Goalie of the Year as the starter at Bayport-Blue Point (N.Y.).
The job is his to lose, as the only other goalies on Towson’s roster are redshirt freshman Danny Domeniconi and true freshman Jackson Kennedy.
“He’s looking to be that guy,” Nadelen said of Nilan. “It’s not completely set in stone, but he had a strong fall.”
It's fun to see him back on the field just being a menace.
Shawn Nadelen on 6-foot-6 attackman Joaquin Villagomez, who missed last season while recovering from ankle surgery
Those who wrote off the Tigers following their 1-4 start last year were foolish. Towson proved as much by rattling off 10 straight wins.
With Delaware leaving the CAA for the Atlantic 10 and Syracuse cycling off the schedule, Nadelen added North Carolina and Villanova to the mix. To come out of the non-conference portion of their schedule with a winning record, the Tigers would have to avenge defeats to Navy and Saint Joseph’s, take care of business against UMBC and then pick off at least one of Johns Hopkins, North Carolina, Villanova or Virginia.
Towson has the toughest non-conference schedule of any team in the CAA. The Tigers host No. 5-ranked North Carolina in their season opener Feb. 1.
Matt DaSilva is the editor in chief of USA Lacrosse Magazine. He played LSM at Sachem (N.Y.) and for the club team at Delaware. Somewhere on the dark web resides a GIF of him getting beat for the game-winning goal in the 2002 NCLL final.
