Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 2020

[xxxxxxx]

Some schedules coming out, looks like the Hens Scrimmage at Denver Feb 1 and home vs Navy on Jan 25, which is the date we have historically scrimmaged Colgate. Good pre season tests, nothing on the regular season schedule yet.

[Henpecked]

This Friday night the Old Hens meet the New Hens in the annual alumni game at Tubby Raymond Stadium.

You never know who is going to show up for the Old Hens, but it will be fun to watch them accept their beatdown by the young guys.

But speaking of old guys, thought it would be fun to put together an All-time Hens squad. Maybe some of you could add to this list since I only go back to '83 or so watching the Hens?

All-Time Hens team (All-Americans in Bold)

Attack
John Grant Jr.
Curtis Dickson
Randy Powers
Anthony DiMarzo
Kevin Lavey
Charlie Kitchen

Midfield
Jordon Hall
Ryan Metzbower
Tom Stanziale
Dennis Sepulveda
Steve Shaw
Jim Bruder

Defense
Pat Dowling
Mark Traverso
Tim Langmaid
Carey Egan
John Ciliberto

Goalies
Jim Rourke
Matt DeLuca
Tom Scherr
Chris Collins

FOGO
Alex Smith
Steve Shaw

SSDM
Brett Manney
John O’Connor

Delaware Lacrosse Mount Rushmore:
John Grant Jr., Curtis Dickson, Randy Powers, Alex Smith

[Henpecked]

Looks like the Hens added another player to the squad.

Defenseman Kevin Lynch is now listed on the updated web roster. He played in all 16 games as a freshman at Queens University of Charlotte. I assume that he made the team as a walk-on since he has been spotted at practice wearing his old college helmet and pinnie as recently as last week. The 6' 2" 190 pound defender played high school football and lacrosse at Liberty High School in Eldersberg, MD and was named the schools Top Multi-Sport athlete as a senior in 2018.

That's all I got on him.

[Henpecked]

Should be an interesting scrimmage this Saturday morning against UMBC. Coach Ryan Moran went into last season with a highly-touted defense (IL had them as a top 5 Defense in its preview issue) that really underperformed (giving up 199 goals in 16 games). The Retrievers still got into the NCAAs with a 7-8 record by winning the America East Conference Championship. UMBC returns a very solid attack unit of Frawley (46 goals), Patschorke (33 goals) and McIntyre (33 goals) that will definitely present a test to the Hens young close defense unit of Grant, Strassner and McCormick.

For anyone interested in feedback the Alumni game from Friday night, the Varsity Hens beat up on the Alumni group by a very wide margin which would have been wider had it not been for the stellar goaltending of recent grad Brody Bartell.

Players who stood out:

The starting attack unit of Charlie Kitchen and Tye Kurtz has been joined by Canadian frosh Michael Robinson in the lefty spot. Robinson fit right in and wowed the crowd with wicked shots from all angles. Robinson, the recent Culver Academy grad from John Grant's hometown (Peterborough ONT) is going to be a big contributor over the next four years.

The starting midfield unit of Clay Miller, Bryce Reid and RS Soph Brooke Rideau showed a lot of speed and some very accurate shooting. I believe the second midfield was comprised of Kyle Kivinski and two freshman, Reed Kurtz (Tye's Bro) and Harrison Ewing. Reed looks like a lefty version of his older brother effortlessly getting off quick shots from the crease in tight quarters. Like Tye, he may need a couple months to adjust to the field game. There were also quite a few walking wounded folks who might also challenge for spots on these units.

Defensively, the team looked pretty solid but took a bunch of penalties. Freshmen LSMs Josh Bayer and Tate Wasson both looked very quick and athletic. DeLuca looked great in goal.

Jake Hervada and Joe Lenskold dominated at FOGO while backups Mason Marano and Roland Hockenberry looked a bit overmatched at times by the old timers, who included recent grads Spencer Turkel and Tyler Barbarich.

That's about it. I'll have more next week after the scrimmage.

[xxxxxxx]

Henpecked right on as usual. The Hens look strong, athletic and skilled. The starting Attack will put up a ton of points and the midfield looks deeper than usual, maybe they can run two full lines on offense. They lost several key SSDMids but seem to have some strong legs ready to go. The defense will be anchored by All American and recently named captain Matt DeLuca. He is poised for a monster year. Like all teams they need to stay healthy and this is year three for Coach DeLuca. His system is clearly in place and the team has bought into his blue collar approach. Saturday will be a good test vs UMBC to see where they are right now.

[xxxxxxx]

Hens announced 2020 Captains, Grad Student Thomas Aloe, Grad Student Jake Hervada, and Senior Matt DeLuca. Congrats to all three.

[Henpecked]

The Hens played a really solid game this past Saturday versus a talented UMBC squad that won the American East conference last year. UD was leading 9-5 at halftime before coach DeLuca took out all of the starters in goal, attack and close defense. He intermingled the starting middies with 2nd and 3rd line guys in the second and the final score was 13-9.

What we saw:

The Hens attack looks like they could become an all-time great line. Freshman Michael Robinson is really athletic and can get off shots from nearly any angle and is lightning quick. He had 3 goals and 2 assists on the day. Charlie Kitchen was Charlie Kitchen – Physical one on one with a flair for creativity. He had one behind the back goal and a tight angle goal with very little separation from his defender. Tye Kurtz had two goals inside. He only needs a sliver of space to get off a shot and is deadly accurate. I can see these guys scoring 30-40 goals each this coming spring. They are electric and will only get better as a unit.

The midfield was terrific, particularly on the defensive side where Peter St. Geme, Thomas Aloe, Ryan Shaw and Jason Seiter stood out. St. Geme is unbelievably physical and did not lose a one-on-one battle all day covering the UMBC top middies. These guys were also impressive, battling hard on the wings during faceoffs.

The FOGO unit played great. Jake Hervada took most of the early draws and won nearly every one. He won three clean and took it straight to the hole scoring once and assisting on another to Robinson on the wing. Joe Lenskold split his draws evenly and Roland Hockenberry and Mason Marano took all of the faceoffs in the second half and did okay – probably a touch below 50%, but battled hard.

The offensive middies looked good but did not have a ton of success scoring. Clay Miller got open for shots three or four times inside 10 yards but could not put it away. The UMBC goalie played very well making 7 or 8 saves in the first half. Brooke Rideau and Bryce Reid (1 goal) also looked pretty good and got open for shots pretty efficiently in the first half.

The close defense was without Owen Grant who looked healthy on the sideline, thankfully. They started Zach Strassner, Kevin McCormick and I believe AJ Hoffman. They all played really well with just a couple breakdowns to note - no crease coverage when double teaming at GLE. UMBC had a couple cookie goals with guys left open on the crease as a result of this. Something to work on.

Matt DeLuca and Matt Kilkeary both played great in goal.

That’s about it. DeLuca has these guys on the right track. The most athletic Hens squad in over a decade. Should be a fun spring.

[xxxxxxx]

Schedule Posted https://bluehens.com/schedule.aspx?path=mlax

Scrimmages with Navy and Denver
Mount
NJIT
St Joe
Monmouth
Nova
Marist
Hopkins
Michigan
Fairfield
Drexel
Hofstra
Towsen
UMass

Hens added Marist and dropped Mercer and Binghamtom from last year.

[Henpecked]

I want to apologize for the length of this post in advance.

The 2020 Hens schedule will provide them with a pretty low RPI opportunity once again. Based on last year's final ratings, the average RPI for all of the teams on this schedule is 35.6. With 71 teams in teams in D1 that means that this represents a schedule that is just about average. I would guess that only four or five of these teams will be in the top 20 at some point this season. But that doesn't mean that it is an “easy” schedule.

The problem with saying the schedule is easy or just average, is that we have seen WAY more parity in the teams in that top 35 range over the last couple years. Any team from the top 15 to 35 can beat the other on any given Saturday. And that can be the difference between going 10-3 and 7-6. I would put Villanova, Johns Hopkins, UMass, Towson, Drexel, Hofstra, Michigan and maybe Marist in that top 35 grouping.

Here is a quick look at each opposing team with final record, final RPI and subjectively, whether they are on the upswing or downslide.

Home Feb 8th - Mount St. Mary's (9-7) RPI #34 – Lost arguably the two best players in Jack Mangan and Chris DiPretoro. Might struggle to repeat success but return a very good goalie. I would think that the Mountaineers are slightly on the downslide this year.

Home Feb 15 – NJIT (2-13) RPI#71 – Not a lot to say here. They lose three of their top five scorers from a bad team. On the downslide.

Away Feb 18 – St. Josephs (7-7) RPI #54 – Not a high-scoring team but leading scorers Nate Patterson (18g 22a) and Ryan Doran (18g 11a) return as does freshman FOGO Zach Cole who was in the 60% at the faceoff X. Last year Coach Wray ran with almost exclusively freshman and sophs starters, so they are definitely on the upswing.

Away Feb 22 –Monmouth (4-8) RPI #61 – They have a very talented defense but failed to score in double digits in all but two late-season games. Not sure who is slated to replace top scorer Griffin Figel, but I am sure Brian Fisher has a plan. This young team is re-tooling for success in the future. I’d say that they will be tougher but really unsure whether this team can get its offense into gear. Undecided.

Home Feb 29 – Villanova (8-7) RPI #17 – Villanova played 10 road games last season and were a Jekyl and Hyde team all year with a few no-show games (at Maryland, at Drexel and at Providence). Coach Corrado went with a very young Wildcat team in 2019. He returns a crazy amount of talent on offense including Colin Kirst (21g 29a), Keegan Khan (31g 18a), Matt Campbell (28g 11a) and Corey McManus the lefty off-ball attackman with 35 goals. They are on the major upswing but need to become more consistent on defense.

Away March 7 – Marist (10-7) RPI #28 – Marist had a surprisingly good season winning the Metro Atlantic before getting trounced in the play-in game versus UMBC 14-8. They had a surprisingly high RPI as well, despite losing 22-7 to Virginia, 12-7 to Air Force, 10-4 to Army, and 17- 5 to UNC (RPI rewards playing tough teams and not necessarily playing them tough, evidently). Nevertheless, Keegan Wilkinson is a great coach and brings back nearly everyone from last year’s squad. This is an experienced team on the upswing.

Home March 17 – Johns Hopkins (8-8) RPI #10 – Johns Hopkins is coming off a disappointing season where they came on strong at the end beating Maryland twice in a week before succumbing to Penn State by one goal in the Big10 finale. There was a lot of momentum for the Jays heading into the tourney. However, they were embarrassed by Notre Dame 16-9 in a non-competitive game once again. The Jays lose long pole Patrick Foley and lefty sniper Kyle Marr, but everyone else is back including all-world attackman Joey Epstein. While the team is plagued by inconsistent defense and lack of physical play at midfield, they are on the upswing.

Home March 21 – Michigan (4-9) RPI #37- The Wolverines christened its new lacrosse-only facility last year by going 1-6 at home, including a loss to UD. The only home win came against Ohio State in the season finale. The team suffered a bunch of injuries including to its top two FOGOs leaving them very vulnerable on the defensive side of the field. They have a ton of offensive talent and help coming in on the defensive side and at FOGO, so I would think that this is a team that will improve in coach Kevin Conry’s third season. Upswing.

Away March 28 – Fairfield (5-9) RPI #53 – Fairfield added new coach Andrew Baxter this year to get the program moving in a positive direction after recently losing its way. Baxter is the former defensive guru from Yale who helped the Elis bring home the NC. He is most notable for his 10-man ride and aggressive defense that basically dares teams to make the tough passes. All I can say it that Fairfield is going to need a lot of help on that side of the field. The Stags gave up a staggering 21 goals to St. Josephs, 19 to Georgetown, 21 to Drexel. On average the CAA teams scored an astonishing 15.6 goals a game against the Stags. I would say that this team is neither on the upswing or downslide, probably a TBD or incomplete with the new regime. It might take a couple years.

Home April 4 – Drexel (7-8) RPI #27 – Drexel has one of the best offensive teams in the CAA. They also have an improving defense that was helped after inserting freshman Ross Blumenthal between the pipes midyear. While the frosh goalie only had a save percentage of 48%, it was notably better than his predecessors who were in the mid 20s and 30s. The Dragons lose their best two-way player, Cam Harris and best long pole in Matt Klinges, but this offense will be tough to compete with led by Matt Varian (29g 33a) and lefty power forward Reid Bowering (47g 9a). On the upswing, unfortunately.

Away April 11 – Hofstra (5-9) RPI #45 – Not sure what to think about this Hofstra team. They seemed so one-dimensional last year with everything going through Ryan Tierney on offense. And while that was good for his personal statistics, it did nothing for the team. I couldn’t care less if they improve this year, but they need to share the ball more and be less predictable on offense this season to have a chance to win. I believe that some of last year’s freshman like Whit Stopak and Sterlyn Ardrey showed a lot of potential. However, they didn’t get many opportunities to showcase this talent in the black hole offense that Tierney created. Also, Dylan Mcintosh was injured for a good part of the season. I would think this team will have a bit of an uptick this year injured players returning and a good recruiting class including Canadian phenom Justin Sykes.

Away April 18 – Towson (11-5) RPI #7 – I’d like to say I was surprised by the success of Towson last year. But nothing Nadelen does surprises me anymore. Who would have thought a middling transfer goalie from UMass- Lowell would turn into a gigantic monster in Baltimore? And who would have thought that Brendan Sunday would have a 74 point season his senior year after just 23 points the previous season? Towson loses Sunday, Goodrich, Maloof and all-world fogo Alex Woodall this year. But so what? Nadelen will figure it out, I am sure. I can’t help but say UPSWING every year with this team.

Home April 24 – Umass (10-5) RPI #21 – Umass won the regular season conference championship last year only to be upset at home in the CAA tourney semis to Drexel. This team has so many assassins returning on offense, I wouldn’t be surprised if, in the spirit of the New England Patriots, they called the 2020 season the “Revenge Tour.” Two unexplainable losses last year to Drexel and Hofstra sidelined them from back-to-back trips to the NCAAs. Other than that, the Gorillas played like Gorillas. They out-groundballed, out-hit, out-hustled, out-gorilla’d their competition along the way. This season they lose one of the best goalies in college lacrosse (Sean Scannone) and a top five LSM (Isaac Paparo). However, they bring back Connelly, Procyk, Tobin, Trainor, Spencer and Philpott for a high-flying offense that just takes it to the hole. I’d say that the Minutemen, despite the loss of key defensive personnel, will still be a challenger for the CAA crown. Upswing.

That’s it. It is going to be a challenge to win the CAA, but this team is setting its goals high, I am sure. They looked primed to give it a go.

Enjoy the rest of Fall. See you in January.

[10stone5]

The 2020 Hens schedule will provide them with a pretty low RPI opportunity once again. Based on last year's final ratings, the average RPI for all of the teams on this schedule is 35.6. With 71 teams in teams in D1 that means that this represents a schedule that is just about average. I would guess that only four or five of these teams will be in the top 20 at some point this season. But that doesn't mean that it is an “easy” schedule.

The problem with saying the schedule is easy or just average, is that we have seen WAY more parity in the teams in that top 35 range over the last couple years. Any team from the top 15 to 35 can beat the other on any given Saturday. And that can be the difference between going 10-3 and 7-6. I would put Villanova, Johns Hopkins, UMass, Towson, Drexel, Hofstra, Michigan and maybe Marist in that top 35 grouping.

Here is a quick look at each opposing team with final record, final RPI and subjectively, whether they are on the upswing or downslide.

Home April 4 – Drexel (7-8) RPI #27 – Drexel has one of the best offensive teams in the CAA. They also have an improving defense that was helped after inserting freshman Ross Blumenthal between the pipes midyear. While the frosh goalie only had a save percentage of 48%, it was notably better than his predecessors who were in the mid 20s and 30s. The Dragons lose their best two-way player, Cam Harris and best long pole in Matt Klinges, but this offense will be tough to compete with led by Matt Varian (29g 33a) and lefty power forward Reid Bowering (47g 9a). On the upswing, unfortunately.

That’s it. It is going to be a challenge to win the CAA, but this team is setting its goals high, I am sure. They looked primed to give it a go.

Enjoy the rest of Fall. See you in January.

Good analysis as always.
The CAA, a one bid league again this year, and, yeah, 5 of the teams are top 30-35.

I’d just point out, Marshall King, graduated, the Drexel offense pretty much ran through King the past two years. And also, Collin Mailman a senior this year, maybe not 1st team All CAA, but possibly one of the most dangerous offensive threats in the league.

[Henpecked]

10 Stone 5,

You never really know if the CAA is going to be a one-bid league. UMass and Towson both have the OOC schedules to pull off an at-large bid should they beat some top 10 teams and then lose in the CAA finals.

I could have added a couple more Drexel players on offense like Mailman, Genord and SE Pennsylvania's Jack Mulcahy, who showed a lot of promise last year as a frosh. But I was trying to keep this post under 3,000 words.

I'll save the in-depth stuff for my CAA pre-season opus in January.

[10stone5]

Home March 17 – Johns Hopkins (8-8) RPI #10 – Johns Hopkins is coming off a disappointing season where they came on strong at the end beating Maryland twice in a week before succumbing to Penn State by one goal in the Big10 finale. There was a lot of momentum for the Jays heading into the tourney. However, they were embarrassed by Notre Dame 16-9 in a non-competitive game once again. The Jays lose long pole Patrick Foley and lefty sniper Kyle Marr, but everyone else is back including all-world attackman Joey Epstein. While the team is plagued by inconsistent defense and lack of physical play at midfield, they are on an upswing.

I think so.
Despite the gloom and doom talk.

[Henpecked]

It was nice to see Tye Kurtz score a goal in the Virginia game this weekend running on the 2nd midfield for team Canada.

The LSN announcers mistakenly gave the goal credit to Penn State's Jack Kelly (Seth Tierney as a guest color guy should have known better), who wasn't actually playing. But anyone who saw the shot could not mistake that righty sidearm cannon from Tye from low to high.

January is just around the corner. Can't wait.

[10stone5]

An interesting group of players the Canadian team put together.
Not the usual collection of field players.
Several top Division II & III players.
Two from the CAA, Kurtz and Reid Bowering.
And then of course the Cornell contingent,
Teat.

[Henpecked]

DeLuca and Company have brought in some really athletic defensive players from Long Island the last couple of years. Last year, the Hens added Kevin McCormick (Farmingdale) and Jason Seiter (Bethpage), who both contributed a ton their freshman year. Yesterday the Hens announced that Aiden McCaffery a four star close defenseman will be joining the Hens from the class of 2021. McCaffery plays for Coach Spallina on Team 91, one of the best club teams in the country, and at Comsewogue HS on Strong Island.

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/recruiti ... 0133/49350

Great pick up for the Hens.

[Henpecked]

Good write up from inside Lacrosse on Deluca’s recent recruiting success for the Hens. Nothing new reported here but very rare does Ty Xanders report anything on the Hens.

“Relative to the rest of Division I, the CAA programs are off to a slow start numbers wise on the '21 front, picking up nine out of 214 that have occured since September 1. However, nobody in the league has been more active or successful as Ben DeLuca's Blue Hens, who have gained five commitments so far.

In the first two weeks of September, Frederick County's Jozwiak twins — Jack and Jason — committed to Delaware, giving them a talented tandem on offense out of Urbana HS in Maryland. A month later, they snagged Crabs A/M Riar Schell (Boys' Latin, Md.), who saw extensive minutes for the Lakers as a sophomore. On October 24th, it was back to Urbana (the alma mater of UD volunteer Trey Wilkes) for another twin in the form of athletic middie Jason Kolar, whose brother, Eric, opted for Maryland on the same day. Given the volume of high school talent within two hours of Delaware's campus, it's huge for the Blue Hens to add local recruits, getting them off to a strong start.

Becoming one of the program's highest-ranked recruits since DeLuca's hire, No. 76 junior Aidan McCaffrey (Comsewogue, N.Y.) picked the Blue Hens earlier this week, a huge addition from Team 91. The skilled left-hander is also the first from his club program to choose Delaware, who haven't been as active on Long Island. As one might imagine, picking up a Top 100 recruit often creates a domino effect for other prospects thinking of joining the class, which could potentially happen as the November recruiting circuit moves forward.”

[Henpecked]

Here is an interesting interview with Hens pre-season All-American goalie Matt DeLuca as he heads into his senior season with elevated expectations. Can't wait to see these guys back in action. Hoping for a return to the NCAAs.

https://www.ftfnext.com/videos/1575600627661-deluca

[Henpecked]

Delaware freshman middie Reed Kurtz and 2020 commit Matt Acchione both made the Team Canada U-19 squad that will be competing this July in Limerick, Ireland.

Kurtz will likely be running on the Hens second midfield this year while Acchione will be competing for the Hill Academy in Ontario this spring with his twin brother Cam (another Hen 2020 commit).

[Henpecked]

Blue Hens play the Navy Midshipman this Saturday in Newark.

Things I will be looking for:

• Can Michael Robinson fill the void left from Joe Eisele's graduation in the lefty attack spot? He looked great in the fall. Hoping to see a solid attack unit with him, Kitchen and Kurtz

• How much has freshman Reed Kurtz improved from the fall where he was adjusting to playing the field game for the first time at a high level? Took his brother about three games last year.

• Who will DeLuca have running on the first midfield with Bryce Reid and Clay Miller? Brooke Rideau split fall games with Kyle Kivinski in that spot.

• Who will start at close defense? All bets are that Zach Strassner will be joined on the first line with Owen Grant and Kevin McCormick. I would think that Connor Sorg and AJ Hoffmann will get a look too.

• What freshmen will have the biggest impact on the team this year? Michael Robinson looks like a killer on attack, but will DeLuca find some playing time for LSMs Tate Wasson, Collin Hurley and Josh Bayer?

• How big an impact will Coach Amplo have on the Navy squad? I am going to guess REALLY big! Amplo created the Marquette program from dust and got them competing every year for the Big East Championship. He is going to make a huge impact down in Annapolis

• Is Jake Hervada back to fighting form at FOGO? All indications from the fall say yes. He was masterful against UMBC. Looking forward to seeing him compete at the X. I believe that the Hens have also improved wing play tremendously since last year.

• Finally, I will be looking for a dry seat at the stadium. All indications are that I will be soaking wet by the first whistle. Hoping the weather predictions are off by a couple hours.

[laxxygilmore]

Blue Hens play the Navy Midshipman this Saturday in Newark.

Things I will be looking for:

• Can Michael Robinson fill the void left from Joe Eisele's graduation in the lefty attack spot? He looked great in the fall. Hoping to see a solid attack unit with him, Kitchen and Kurtz

• How much has freshman Reed Kurtz improved from the fall where he was adjusting to playing the field game for the first time at a high level? Took his brother about three games last year.

• Who will DeLuca have running on the first midfield with Bryce Reid and Clay Miller? Brooke Rideau split fall games with Kyle Kivinski in that spot.

• Who will start at close defense? All bets are that Zach Strassner will be joined on the first line with Owen Grant and Kevin McCormick. I would think that Connor Sorg and AJ Hoffmann will get a look too.

• What freshmen will have the biggest impact on the team this year? Michael Robinson looks like a killer on attack, but will DeLuca find some playing time for LSMs Tate Wasson, Collin Hurley and Josh Bayer?

• How big an impact will Coach Amplo have on the Navy squad? I am going to guess REALLY big! Amplo created the Marquette program from dust and got them competing every year for the Big East Championship. He is going to make a huge impact down in Annapolis

• Is Jake Hervada back to fighting form at FOGO? All indications from the fall say yes. He was masterful against UMBC. Looking forward to seeing him compete at the X. I believe that the Hens have also improved wing play tremendously since last year.

• Finally, I will be looking for a dry seat at the stadium. All indications are that I will be soaking wet by the first whistle. Hoping the weather predictions are off by a couple hours.

• How big an impact will Coach Amplo have on the Navy squad? I am going to guess REALLY big! Amplo created the Marquette program from dust and got them competing every year for the Big East Championship. He is going to make a huge impact down in Annapolis

+1. Excellent guess. I agree on REALLY big...and...HUGE impact...he has already. Promises to be an enjoyable day of lax at UDE as both teams spool up for 2020...good luck to the Blue Hens in 2020.