Villanova Stymies Dickson, Tops Delaware

from press release

NEWARK, Del. -- Villanova limited the University of Delaware's Curtis Dickson to a single goal and Jack Rice tallied three for the Wildcats as the Blue Hens fell 11-8 in men's lacrosse action before a sun-drenched season-high crowd of 2,125 at Delaware Stadium Saturday afternoon.

Dickson, who entered the game leading the nation in total goals (33) and points per game (6.0), was held to just one first-half goal as the Hens (4-4) dropped their third straight game, all by four goals or less.

Rice led Villanova (4-2) with his three goals while Will Casertano and Will Bell each tallied two goals and dished out an assist and Kevin Cunningham distributed two assists. Goalkeeper Billy Hurley, making his first appearance of the year in place of regular starter Dan Gutierrez,
was solid in goal with 12 saves. The Wildcats won for the third time in their last four games and downed the Hens for the second straight season.

Sophomore Grant Kaleikau led the Blue Hens with two goals and also dished out an assist while Carter Bloor and Chris Hichborn each had a goal and an assist. Martin Cahill, John Austin, and Nick Elsmo also tallied for the Blue Hens, who had received votes in this week’s United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association poll and were picked in the Top 20 by both Inside Lacrosse and LAXNews.com

Dickson, a national Player of the???Year candidate who earlier this season had goal-scoring performances of eight vs. Albany, seven vs. UMBC, and six against Stony Brook, was held to a single goal for just the second time this season. He still managed to increase two streaks as he scored a goal for the 17th straight game and extended the nation’s second longest active point-scoring streak to 48 games, breaking the Delaware school record of 47 by Anthony DiMarzo set in 1992-95.

Delaware held a commanding 40-28 advantage in shots but could find the back of the net just eight times as the Hens were held in single digits for just the second time this season and for the first time since a 15-7 loss to then???No. 5 Johns Hopkins back on Feb. 23. Dickson had just one goal in that game as well.

The Blue Hens never held the lead but did tie the score twice, the second time on a goal by Bloor with 9:05 left in the first half to knot the game at 3-3. But Villanova took the lead for good at 4-3 when Bell took a feed from Casertano and scored with just .2 left on the clock
before halftime.

Villanova, a former Colonial Athletic Association member now playing in the Big East, increased the lead to as much as four goals early in the third quarter but the Hens rallied on goals by Elsmo and Kaleikau to narrow the gap to 8-5 after three quarters and pulled to within two goals at 8-6 when Hichborn scored right in front of the net off a feed from Mark Steverson just 37 seconds into the final stanza.

But the Wildcats held off the Delaware surge as Rice scored consecutive goals in span of 84 seconds, both off feeds from Cunningham, to put Villanova back up front by four. Delaware got goals by Cahill with 8:01 left and from Austin in the final minute but could never get closer than three the rest of the way.

Delaware will return to action Saturday when the Hens host the University of Vermont at 1 p.m. at Delaware Stadium.

AGATE:

Villanova...............2.....2.....4.....3.....11
Delaware...............1.....2.....2.....3.....8

Scoring Summary:
Delaware - Grant Kaleikau, 2 goals-1 assist; Chris Hichborn, 1-1; Carter
Bloor, 1-1; Martin Cahill, 1-0; Curtis Dickson, 1-0; John Austin, 1-0;
Nick Elsmo, 1-0; Mark Steverson, 0-1.
Villanova -???Jack Rice, 3-0; Will Casertano, 2-1; Matt Bell, 2-1; Mike
Brennan, 1-1; Nick Doherty, 1-1; Michael Vigilante, 1-0; Paul Webber,
1-0; Kevin Cunningham, 0-2; T.J. O’Donnell, 0-1

Shots: V - 28, D - 40; Groundballs: V - 36, D - 37; Faceoffs: V - 13, D
- 9; Clears: D - 12 of 16, V - 17 of 20; Extra Man Goals: V - 0 for 3, D
- 0 for 2; Penalties: V - 2 for 1:30, D - 3 for 2:30; Saves: V - 12
(Billy Hurley); D - 11 (Noah Fossner); Turnovers: V - 14, D - 12;
Attendance: 2,125.