Blue Hens Ready to Start Season
from press releases
PHILADELPHIA - The University of Delaware
men's lacrosse team will be looking to return to a familiar place
in the post-season this spring as the Blue Hens open the 2010
season this Friday, Feb. 5, with a non-league game at Saint
Joseph's at 2 p.m. at Finnesy Field.
The game, originally scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 6, was moved
ahead a day due to the threat of a major snowstorm expected to hit
the region in the late afternoon on Friday. The contest will be the
first NCAA Division I men's lacrosse game in the nation and one of
only three being played this weekend.
The Delaware vs. Saint Joseph's matchup for the season opener has
become a tradition for both teams as the squads will meet to
kickoff the season for the eighth straight season. The Blue Hens
have dominated their future Colonial Athletic Association foes,
having won all nine games overall in the series with an average win
margin of 9.0 goals per game. Delaware captured last season's
opener with a 13-2 victory in Newark.
Both squads will be looking to bounce back from sub-.500 seasons in
2009 as the Blue Hens, who advanced all the way to the NCAA Final
Four in 2007, went just 5-10 a year ago and failed to make the CAA
Tournament for the first time since the 2003 campaign. The Hawks
are coming off a 6-9 record a year ago but won two of their final
three games. Saint Joseph's, which will join the CAA next season,
is looking for its first winning season since 2000 when the team
went 9-4.
Delaware, which was picked No. 3 in the pre-season CAA Coaches poll
and earned votes in the U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association
(USILA) Pre-Season Top 20 rankings, welcomes back 28 letterwinners
and eight of its top 10 scorers from a year ago. The Hens posted a
10-1 win over Colgate, a perennial contender in the Patriot League
and the No. 20 pick in the pre-season USILA poll, in a pre-season
scrimmage last week.
Delaware, led by 35th year head coach Bob Shillinglaw, will
host seven home games this season, beginning with the Feb. 13 game
vs. Presbyterian. The Hens will play the other six games in
22,000-seat Delaware Stadium where a new FieldTurf surface was
installed this winter.
The Hens, who have made two trips to the NCAA Tournament over the
last six seasons, return a solid nucleus this spring led by
All-American senor forward Curtis Dickson and All-CAA standouts in
senior midfielder Martin Cahill, junior defender Pat Dowling,
junior midfielder Kevin Kaminski, and senior faceoff specialist
Tommy Lee.
Dickson, a two-time All-CAA attackman, is the Hens' leading
returning scorer after tallying 33 goals and 12 assists while
Cahill tallied 20 goals and Kaminski recorded 15 markers last
season. Dickson, who scored his 100th career goal last season,
enters the season having scored a point in 40 straight games, a
mark that is just seven shy of the school record of 47 set by
Anthony DiMarzo in 1992-95.
Dowling, who posted a school-record 22 caused turnovers in 2009, is
among the CAA's top defenders while Lee is among the top faceoff
specialists, having won 60 percent of his attempts a year ago.
Junior Noah Fossner also returns as a starter this spring after
posting a solid effort in goal a year ago as a sophomore when he
ranked among the CAA leaders in goals allowed (9.37 goals per game)
and save percentage (.566).
Other top returning players are senior attackman Mark Steverson (10
goals), senior attackman Pat Lombard (10 goals in an
injury-shortened season), junior midfielder Carter Bloor (5 goals),
sophomore attackman and CAA All-Rookie selection Grant Kalekiau (4
goals), senior midfielder D.J. Widlake, and junior defenders Tim
Langmaid and Matt Stefurak.
Saint Joseph's returns its three leading scorers, a trio that
accounted for 75 percent of the scoring last season. The unit is
led by senior captain Sean Evans (24 goals), junior Scott Cullinan
(21 goals), and senior Charlie Gorman (17 goals). The Hawks must
replace long-time starting goalkeeper Eric Hotaling (8.77 gaa).
