Monday, May 27, 1991 and Saturday, May 26, 2001 are two days in Towson men's lacrosse history that stand out the most to me. These dates are significant because they are the two times that the Tigers have played on Memorial Day weekend. The 1991 team earned the opportunity to play on Memorial Day Monday in the Championship game, a game they lost to UNC 18-13 in the Carrier Dome at Syracuse. As a kid growing up in Baltimore, I watched this game on VHS countless time, long before I ever got recruited to come to Towson. It was because of that game I knew I wanted to have the opportunity to play on Memorial Day weekend.

On May 26, 2001, I got that opportunity and it is a day that I will never forget. 

To get to that day, we need to go back a couple years. In 1998, Tony Seaman was fired as head coach from Johns Hopkins. He was fired because he won, just never won the Big One. Later that summer, he took the job at Towson and got to work recruiting. In his first year, 1999, he went 5-8. That following fall, he brought in 22 freshmen as his first recruiting class to go along with a good crop of good young players that were recruited by the famed Coach Runk, who spent 30 years at the helm of the Tigers. The 2000 team went 3-10 and dreams of the Final Four seemed long off.

The 2001 Tigers brought a fun style of lacrosse to the field that not a lot of teams played. We were run-and-gun, always going 100 miles per hour. We had an offense that featured two midfields that played completely different styles and made it difficult for opposing defenses to plan for an attack trio that was incredibly balanced and played well off of each other. The defense was in your face and physical and would play the opponents' offenses anywhere on the field. A faceoff man who finished the season winning almost 64 percent of the draws and a goalie who saved 58 percent of the shots faced.

The 2001 season started off with wins over Radford and Leigh, sandwiched around loses to Virginia and No. 3 Maryland. Sitting at 2-2 on March 17, the Tigers faced off against Dartmouth and won 7-6 in double overtime. That game was the turning point for this team. Winning gave the team confidence that we could win. After that double overtime win, we rattled off seven more wins and were riding an eight-game winning streak into the final game of the regular season versus crosstown rival Johns Hopkins. We lost that game 14-13, but ended the season undefeated in the America East and hosted of the conference tournament. An 18-7 win over Vermont preceded a 13-11 championship game victory over Hofstra. We were the America East Champions and on the road to the NCAAs for the first time since 1996.

We opened the NCAAs playing at nearby UMBC versus the No. 12 Duke Blue Devils. We went into that game as the number six seed and won 12-10 in a hard-fought game. With the win, we were on to the NCAA Quarterfinals in College Park for a rematch with the Terps. A 9-7 loss at home to Maryland two months earlier had us prepared for what we would see out of the number three seed. A back-and- forth game came down to a late goal off a defensive stop and fast break goal to put us up 12-11. We won the ensuing faceoff, called time out, and proceeded to run the clock out.

There was nothing quite like Final Four week. The entire campus had been cleared out as exams were finished and graduation had already occurred. That week was like Christmas for us as we were the first ones to wear the brand-new, yet to be released Cascade helmet. This was huge for as up until that week we were wearing the PlayLax Helmet (PLH). The Cascade was a welcome change and being the first program to show off their new helmet was exciting. It was a normal week or practice for us, with the exception that we were practicing on the soccer field. In 2001 Minnegan Stadium (now Johnny Unitas Stadium) was AstroTurf and Rutgers Stadium, host of the 2001 Final Four, was grass. On Friday morning, we loaded up the bus and made our way up to Piscataway, New Jersey. Our last practice before the Semifinal showdown with No. 2 Princeton was loose and fun. We weren't supposed to be there, per the experts, but we were and we were enjoying every minute of it.

The neat thing about the Final Four is the Friday night banquet. Each of the four Division I teams are there, as well as the four teams from Division II and III that would be playing their respective Championship games on Sunday. Being in that room with guys that you grew up playing against and with, worked summer camps with, or watched play was a great kickoff to the weekend. A representative from each team spoke in front of the room. These speeches are unique and anecdotal and include inside jokes that only the respective team understands. The comradery and respect between players and coaches in that room is what makes lacrosse a game so unique compared to others.

The banquet was over and everyone went back to their rooms. One more sleep before the big day. The morning started off like any away game day morning, breakfast buffet in the hotel, followed by a team meeting, and then back to the rooms to relax for a few minutes, pack and head down to the buses. Our bus driver in 2001 would always play Jungle Boogie by Kool and the Gang as we rolled into the stadium and for some reason it always got us going when we were ready to get off the bus. Into the locker room we went, calm, relaxed, and excited for the task at hand. Princeton, 12-1 on the season, was known for its efficiency with the ball in their sticks and a defense that seemed like a string connected them as everyone moved together and always seemed to be in the right place.

This game was unlike any game that I had played in at any level. Looking back on it now, it was still the most fun I have had in a game, not only because what was on the line, but the battle that took place on the field. Two teams with the same mascot, a different pedigree and history, and different styles gave it their all on that field that day. Unfortunately, we fell a goal short, 12-11 and Princeton went on to beat Syracuse to claim its sixth national championship in a 10-year span. After the game, there was nothing to be disappointed about as we completed the greatest turnaround ever in Division I lacrosse history going from 3-10 in 2000 to 14-4 in 2001. We shook hands with the Tigers of Princeton, gave them our best wishes on Monday and headed to the locker room. The coaches told us how proud of us they were, that we stuck together and gave it our all and put Towson lacrosse back on the map. After showers and the postgame tailgate, we boarded the bus and made the trip home. Our memorable season was over, but it gave us hope and reinvigorated the program for years to come.

That 2001 team and this 2017 team share a lot of similarities. With the way that recruiting is now compared to what it was in the early 2000s, it was easier to reload a roster than it is now. Over the last six years this Tiger program, led by Shawn Nadelen, has put the Tigers back on the map. This senior class has put the Tiger program on the map winning three straight CAA championships and three straight trips to the playoffs, each time advancing further then the year before.
Saturday, is the chance to advance to a place only one Tiger team has ever gotten to: Championship Monday.

Good luck boys, no matter what happens, you have made all of us proud.