Shilling makes his dad — and Tigers — proud
Johns Hopkins transfer has career day with 6 points to lead victory over Retrievers
During Friday’s practice for the Towson men’s lacrosse team, fifth-year senior attackman Luke Shilling made a careless mistake during a man-up offense drill.
The gaffe drew the ire not of head coach Shawn Nadelen but volunteer assistant coach Andy Shilling, Luke’s father.
On the next rep, Luke made the right play and didn’t hesitate to inform his father, who congratulated his son and exhorted him to do it again. Nadelen, who had a front-row seat to the Shilling dynamic, called the interaction “fun to see.”
“It’s been neat and special, and I want them to be able to enjoy it because it’s very rare in coaching for that to happen,” Nadelen said. “As a father of three young kids who is able to step onto the field and help coach them, I know how special it is. So I’m glad and happy for those guys.”
Andy Shilling might not have much to scrutinize after watching Luke enjoy career highs in both goals (four) and points (six) to power the Tigers to an 11-10 win against visiting UMBC on Saturday afternoon before an announced crowd of 1,308 at Johnny Unitas Stadium.
Shilling, a Baltimore resident and Boys’ Latin graduate who transferred from Johns Hopkins, scored the game-winning goal off a pass from senior attackman James Avanzato with 4 minutes, 4 seconds left in regulation.
“I don’t think I saw anything in particular,” Shilling said of his performance. “It was more just spots to be in with the way they were playing defense and the way we were playing offense.
“James just did a great job of getting in the middle and finding me on most of them. So I think it was just finding the gaps in their defense.”
Shilling has amassed nine goals and eight assists for 17
points in just four games after missing the first two because of transfer procedures. In four years with the nearby Blue Jays, he compiled only seven goals and six assists.
But Shilling doesn’t harbor any bitterness about the lack of playing time he was granted at Johns Hopkins.
“Some of my best friends are there, it’s a great school and I had a great time there,” he said. “But I’m really happy to be here right now. It’s been something I couldn’t have imagined.
“It’s awesome. My dad’s on the staff, so it’s pretty special to play my last year with him.”
Not only has Andy Shilling been a volunteer assistant coach working with the goalkeepers for six seasons, but Luke’s younger brother Ely is a junior who interns for the university’s media relations department. And Luke lives at home, which is just a halfmile from campus.
“It’s pretty special, something not most people get to experience,” he said of playing for his father. “I’m just pleased I get to do it.”
Shilling was at his best for Towson in the second half, having a hand in all five of the team’s goals after halftime. He scored both its goals in the third quarter, assisted on the first two goals of the fourth and then was the beneficiary of a pinpoint pass from Avanzato working behind the cage for the game-winner.
Avanzato, a Maryland transfer who finished with a season-best four assists and tied a season high in points with five, said Shilling provides an inside presence for an offense that already includes a pair of former Terps in junior midfielder Kyle Berkeley (12 goals, eight assists) and junior attackman Nick DeMaio (16 goals, two assists).
“We’re going to have so many different guys all over the field,” Avanzato said. “Luke, he’s like a safety blanket inside. I really just have to throw it in there, and I know he’s going to come down with it and finish it.
“And guys like Nick and Kyle, they just
Friday, 7 p.m.
draw so much attention because of what they’ve been able to do through the first five games. It’s going to take a lot of pressure off of all of us just because the more guys we have, it’s going to make it harder on the defense.”
The Tigers (3-3) have won back-to-back games for the first time this season after defeating Loyola Maryland 11-8 on Wednesday. Nadelen said he appreciated his guys’ ability to overcome a 5-1 deficit after the first quarter.
“We’ve shown again that we can dig in and be able to bounce back from a tough loss and also be able to bounce back in a game where you’re trailing,” he said. “So I think the guys, they believe a little bit more. They’ve always believed, but they believe a little bit more that they can be in any game and be able to earn a win as long as they stay together and keep working as a team.”
Junior attackman Mike Doughty, a Glenelg resident and graduate who transferred from Division III’s Rochester Institute of Technology, paced UMBC with four points on two goals and two assists, and junior midfielder Nick Dupuis came off the bench to score three times.
But the Retrievers (1-2) dropped their second in a row as an offense that scored five unanswered goals in the first quarter was limited to five in the final three quarters.
“I think there were some opportunities we had to maybe get a possession and rest our defense, and we just maybe went rogue a little bit — shooting from 15 yards when we could say, ‘Hey, just take the clear,’ an offensive middie dropping the ball in the middle of the field,” coach Ryan Moran said. “Those are mistakes that usually don’t happen but did, and as a byproduct they led to Towson having a possession or two and scoring off of ensuing possessions.”