Despite its best showing of the young 2020 season, the Towson University men's lacrosse team fell in a back-and-forth battle 17-10 against No. 12/No. 11 Cornell Friday afternoon at Johnny Unitas ® Stadium. Towson (0-3) had a balanced offensive effort with 11 different players registering at least one point, including seven starters. Jon Mazza and James Avanzato scored a pair of goals apiece while Austin Stewart notched a pair of helpers. Shane Brennan made 13 saves in his first start since May 5, 2018. Twelfth-ranked Cornell (2-0) countered with its potent offense, getting four goals apiece from Michael Long and John Piatelli. Jonathan Donville racked four points with a goal and three assists while Connor Fletcher added a hat trick. The Big Red won 21 of the game's 31 faceoffs. How it Happened The Tigers jumped up to a 2-1 lead as Luke Fromert got his third of the season in a perfect transition play from rookie defensive midfielder Brandon Hund. Fletcher scored his first of the day for Cornell before Mazza ripped home a go-ahead goal, again in transition with Koby Smith on the back end. The Big Red ran off three straight from Fletcher, Donville and Piatelli before Brody McLean broke the run with his fourth of the year. After the McLean goal, Cornell regained a two-goal lead on a marker from Paul Rasimowicz for a 5-3 score through 15 minutes. Towson scored three of the next four goals from Grant Maloof and firsts of the year from Tim Montgomery and Greg Ey. Cornell's Cooper Telesco scored once in that Tiger burst. Ey's goal tied the game at 6-6, the third time this season a Towson player has scored to make it 6-6 this year. Cornell got a natural hat trick from Long along with a goal from Jeff Teat for a 10-6 lead at halftime. Cornell continued the run into the third quarter with strikes from JJ Lombari and John Piatelli for a 12-6 lead. Sophomore midfielder Ryan Swain halted the bleeding with his first career goal with 9:33 to play in the third quarter. The Big Red had back-to-back goals from Piatelli before Towson got Avanzato's first of the day. Across the remainder of the third quarter and early in the fourth, Cornell saw goals from Fletcher, Telesco and Long. Avanzato scored his second on a feed from linemate Stewart. Mazza scored the final goal of the game with 1:34 to play, registering the game's only extra-man goal. Behind the Numbers Cornell's up-tempo offense was not afraid to pull the trigger taking 48 shots, including 16 in the third quarter. Brennan made 13 saves in his first appearance of the year. The Tigers got off 34 shots, finishing with a shooting percentage near 30 percent. Towson's struggles at the faceoff X continued as the Tigers won 10 of the 31 chances. Rookie Shane Santora was a shade under .500, winning seven of his 15 chances off the bench. The Tigers' defensive midfielders had five of Towson's seven caused turnovers, including a pair from Andrew O'Dare who grabbed two of the Tigers' 28 ground balls. Towson's man-down unit held high-powered Cornell off the board on the one penalty against the Black & Gold Friday night. The loss snapped an eight-game winning streak for the Tigers on Fridays, dating back to the 2012 season. Towson is 8-4 in Friday afternoon showdowns under ninth-year head coach Shawn Nadelen. Up Next for Towson The Tigers have a short week before their next game. Towson heads down Charles Street to Cold Spring Lane for a Wednesday clash at No. 11 Loyola Game time at the Ridley Athletic Complex is set for 7 p.m. on the Patriot League Network./ The Towson Sports Network will carry an audio feed of the game with Ben Rosenbaum and Glenn Smith on the call. Pregame show is slated for 6:45 p.m.