Towson men’s lacrosse suffered an early-season setback at Johns Hopkins, and the Tigers were determined not to take the loss lightly.
Certainly, a loss against a local rival on the road can serve as a wakeup call, but Towson didn’t consider it a defining moment, either.
Tigers senior team captain Ray Glass is no stranger to tough challenges. The 5-foot-9, 180-pound short-stick defensive midfielder played in all 15 games in 2023 after an injury-plagued season in 2022. Glass caused nine turnovers and picked up five ground balls a year ago.
“One of the things we pride ourselves on is our three core values of our team — accountability, compete and toughness,” Glass said on Glenn Clark Radio Feb. 26. “[Head coach Shawn Nadelen] and all the other coaches dove into what we need to do as a team and focus on our strengths and weaknesses.”
This approach helped Towson beat its next three opponents prior to an 11-10 overtime loss at Loyola on Feb. 27. As part of the team’s core group of veteran players, Glass is confident the team can continue creating positive outcomes just by “looking at our flaws” and “controlling the controllables.”
The Tigers played well down the stretch last season, winning their final three regular-season games. They’re looking to build off that regardless of preseason expectations. Towson was picked to finish third in the eight-team CAA.
“A lot of the outside talk we kind of ignored. That’s not something that defines our team and it’s not something we even care about,” Glass said. “We focus on what we can do and what we can control, so there’s always going to be outside noise. One of the things that we tell our guys is [to] not even worry about it and focus on what we have ahead.”
The Perry Hall, Md., native and Calvert Hall graduate credits his success on the playing field to remaining humble and putting in the work, though his path to playing lacrosse for a local college program was not something that he envisioned since his final high school playing season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.
After enrolling at Towson, he reached out to the lacrosse program and was able to secure a spot on the team. He credits this drive and mentality to a foundation set by his parents coupled with learning discipline and determination at a young age.
Military service is also something Glass has always found intriguing. Through candid discussions with family members who served, he made a conscious decision to pursue that route. That led him to join the Army ROTC program in his sophomore year to find his purpose.
After college, he plans to leverage his participation in the Army ROTC program to reach his future goals of becoming a logistics officer in the U.S. Army. The next chapter in Glass’ journey looks bright.
“I think I’ve been put in a position to succeed in any role that I do, and I’m ready for it,” Glass said. “… The ROTC program really did their job and did a great job of being able to train us up on what we need to know in order to be successful officers in the military.”
Up next, Glass and the Tigers play host to UMBC on March 2.
For more from Glass, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: John Bowers