I think what I saw is this.
A team that by the end was gassed.
Several Drexel players had hands on knees towards the end, a textbook case of a ‘gassed’ player.
Saw the same in the Hens-Michigan game, UM was spent by the end.
Hens really press you, they press out on the midfielders, they chase the face off man the entire time, they shut off passing lanes, they have there sticks up knocking down passes. That can really wear down a team, which is what I saw from the Drexel players.
Delaware 2019
Re: Delaware 2019
Henpecked wrote: ↑Mon Apr 08, 2019 8:18 am As the Hens head into what they've probably always considered the tough part of their schedule at 9-2, it is really good to see the offense clicking. I talked to a bunch of folks after the Binghamton game and each said the same, thing "if this offense could just get going..."
The Hens are answering that question in a big way. This turnaround has been led by Charlie Kitchen and Dean DiSimone who have both improved tremendously at getting the younger guys involved more in the offense. On Saturday DiSimone had only one assist but he had insane passes to open middies all day for time and room shots that just missed.
Coaches DeLuca and Rewkowski have built a patient offense and the players don't really seem to care who scores, as long as they are finding the open guy or the best matchup to put the ball in the back of the net. Against Hopkins it was Joe Eisele with 4 goals (2 assisted). Against Michigan, Dean DiSimone had the best matchup and went off on the shorties for 6 goals. Against Fairfield, the Hens found Tye Kurtz open for 7 goals (5 assisted). And Saturday Joe Eisele found open space for 5 goals (3 assisted).
Through these four games Kitchen is averaging 5 points a game (2.75 goals and over 2.25 assists). When he is not forcing the issue and distributing more, the Hens are a much better offense.
I have heard from a bunch of folks who think the Hens should be ranked in the top 20. I don't think DeLuca really cares about rankings right now. The Hens have to keep the focus on the CAA and specifically Hofstra, who is coming off a HUGE OT win over UMass Saturday. The Defense will have to play a lot better than they did against Drexel - tons of missed assignments on defense and some really hard-to-explain errors on man-down defense (like sliding to the attackman at X and leaving the wings wide open).
Hofstra is going to be tough test this Saturday in Newark. This will be an unbelievably difficult game as the Hens try to lock up a CAA birth. Hoping for great weather and a big turnout. Should be fun.
Henpecked is on the money as usual. I'm sure Coach Deluca doesn't care about rankings but its not right, Lehigh is 6-4 at 17 with no top 20 wins either. Delaware is a top 20 team right now. I guess it doesn't matter because with their schedule an at large bid is out of the question, but I feel bad for the players, they deserve it. Moving on I feel really good about this team, especially their chances on Saturday. I say this because UMass barley got by Drexel in CAA week one, coming from behind to win by one. Delaware handled Drexel from start to finish Saturday and two goals in the final 80 seconds with a couple of stupid penalties made the score look respectable. Hens are playing like a veteran team with poise and are really fun to watch.
Re: Delaware 2019
Lacrosse is a lot like basketball. As a spectator in both sports you can't help but notice when a star player is scoreless in the game. The longer the game goes on, the more the scoreless player begin to press, even when it is not a great match up. You can almost see the imaginary "I gotta get mine" thought bubble pop up over his head.
I have been watching Hens lacrosse for a long time and have witnessed this behavior from many individuals on many of these teams. It never surprises me when that happens. It's like "Uh oh, he is really going to try somethings crazy here." And invariably he does.
But I have to say this year it is almost the opposite. I am waiting for these moments to occur and then I am surprised when it doesn't happen.
Earlier this week I posted that this year's team does not really seem to care who scores. They are playing a faster tempo, less isolations, heads up and share-the-ball offense. Last year the Hens assisted on 43% of their goals. This year they are at 54%. And in the first two weeks of the CAA they have assisted on 66% of goals (20 assists on 30 goals).
So I wasn't totally surprised to see the Harry Truman quote at the beginning of the recap of the Drexel game on Bluehens.com:
"It is amazing what can be accomplished when nobody cares who gets credit."
Hoping this mindset continues. It is a lot of fun to watch.
I have been watching Hens lacrosse for a long time and have witnessed this behavior from many individuals on many of these teams. It never surprises me when that happens. It's like "Uh oh, he is really going to try somethings crazy here." And invariably he does.
But I have to say this year it is almost the opposite. I am waiting for these moments to occur and then I am surprised when it doesn't happen.
Earlier this week I posted that this year's team does not really seem to care who scores. They are playing a faster tempo, less isolations, heads up and share-the-ball offense. Last year the Hens assisted on 43% of their goals. This year they are at 54%. And in the first two weeks of the CAA they have assisted on 66% of goals (20 assists on 30 goals).
So I wasn't totally surprised to see the Harry Truman quote at the beginning of the recap of the Drexel game on Bluehens.com:
"It is amazing what can be accomplished when nobody cares who gets credit."
Hoping this mindset continues. It is a lot of fun to watch.
Re: Delaware 2019
Something that might only interest me:
This weekend Delaware plays Hofstra in a critical CAA game for both teams. I know that this is a team game but there are two junior attackmen with a similar style that are hooking up for the third time in this game – Ryan Tierney and Charlie Kitchen
Hofstra's Tierney was a much-hyped recruit out of Massapequa High School while Kitchen was a relatively late bloomer at St. Augustine Prep in south Jersey. Both are considered high-volume “shoot first” attackmen and lead their respective teams in that statistic - Tierney has 123 shots while Kitchen has 106 shots, both through 11 games.
I thought it would be interesting to look at their stats to see how close the righty and lefty attackmen were statistically after nearly three years of D1 play.
Tierney (through 39 games)
Fr 31g 16a
So 27g 22a
Jr 31g 8a
Totals 89g 46a
2.3 goals/game
1.2 assists/game
3.5 points/game
Kitchen (through 40 games)
Fr 28g 14a
So 37g 14a
Jr 28g 18a
Totals: 93g 46a
2.3 goals/game
1.2 assists/game
3.5 points/game
I’d say that’s a little close.
Should be an interesting game. It will be fun watching these two compete for another 1.5 years.
This weekend Delaware plays Hofstra in a critical CAA game for both teams. I know that this is a team game but there are two junior attackmen with a similar style that are hooking up for the third time in this game – Ryan Tierney and Charlie Kitchen
Hofstra's Tierney was a much-hyped recruit out of Massapequa High School while Kitchen was a relatively late bloomer at St. Augustine Prep in south Jersey. Both are considered high-volume “shoot first” attackmen and lead their respective teams in that statistic - Tierney has 123 shots while Kitchen has 106 shots, both through 11 games.
I thought it would be interesting to look at their stats to see how close the righty and lefty attackmen were statistically after nearly three years of D1 play.
Tierney (through 39 games)
Fr 31g 16a
So 27g 22a
Jr 31g 8a
Totals 89g 46a
2.3 goals/game
1.2 assists/game
3.5 points/game
Kitchen (through 40 games)
Fr 28g 14a
So 37g 14a
Jr 28g 18a
Totals: 93g 46a
2.3 goals/game
1.2 assists/game
3.5 points/game
I’d say that’s a little close.
Should be an interesting game. It will be fun watching these two compete for another 1.5 years.Re: Delaware 2019
Henpecked, Whats shooting percentage of the 2
Tierney not shy when it comes to pulling the trigger
THX
Tierney not shy when it comes to pulling the trigger
THX
Re: Delaware 2019
Shooting %:
Tierney .252
Kitchen .264
The stats are amazingly close across the board. The real difference is that Tierney is a lefty who likes free space and operates from the top of the box (almost like a middie) and Kitchen is a righty who loves contact and does most of his damage from GLE.
Tierney .252
Kitchen .264
The stats are amazingly close across the board. The real difference is that Tierney is a lefty who likes free space and operates from the top of the box (almost like a middie) and Kitchen is a righty who loves contact and does most of his damage from GLE.
Re: Delaware 2019
Tierney was unreal.
That might have been the best performance I’ve seen out of a league attackman this year, and there have been some good ones, from Sunday, from Kitchen.
I had to watch that game three times to pick up on everything Tierney did.
OTOH, Hens have shown they know how to shut down, or at least wear down your team’s top attackman.
That might have been the best performance I’ve seen out of a league attackman this year, and there have been some good ones, from Sunday, from Kitchen.
I had to watch that game three times to pick up on everything Tierney did.
OTOH, Hens have shown they know how to shut down, or at least wear down your team’s top attackman.
Re: Delaware 2019
Tierney will release it from 15+. Hofstra Is playing w some swagger. Plus getting support at the faceoff & in the goal. IMO Delaware is playing a “hot” team.Henpecked wrote: ↑Wed Apr 10, 2019 11:51 am Shooting %:
Tierney .252
Kitchen .264
The stats are amazingly close across the board. The real difference is that Tierney is a lefty who likes free space and operates from the top of the box (almost like a middie) and Kitchen is a righty who loves contact and does most of his damage from GLE.
Re: Delaware 2019
In my opinion Hofstra is playing a “hot” team too. 
Re: Delaware 2019
Rocket scientist! A few weeks ago, this was an easy lay up! That’s my point. This team has some - pep. They needed some meds, done !
Re: Delaware 2019
I appreciate your analysis, Henpecked. Tierney has had some big games this year, as well as some not-so-big games. I hope HU can keep up with the high-scoring Hens.
BYW, Charlie's older brother, James, is on the Hofstra roster. Maybe he'll get in for a few plays this week.
BYW, Charlie's older brother, James, is on the Hofstra roster. Maybe he'll get in for a few plays this week.
Re: Delaware 2019
I’m not sure anyone ever thought this game was a layup. I know Delaware didn’t. Hofstra has wins over Lehigh and UMass and one-goal losses to Towson and Villanova. They are a very good team.
I was just joking that everyone seems to be picking Hofstra after the UMass win and ignoring Delaware’s 9 wins this year. This game has always been a coin toss. Tierney is the X factor for Hofstra this year.
We will see late Saturday afternoon.
Re: Delaware 2019
A few weeks ago I really liked Delaware to go 3-0 to start the CAA, but Hofstra has played very well lately. I think this will be a typical CAA battle. It should be close and my bet is it will be decided by a big play or two late in the game. Weather looks good and it should be fun. After going 1-1 against Towson and UMass, Hofstra has put themselves in a great position especially if they can win Saturday. On the Delaware side, they can go 3-0 with a win and would almost certainly make the CAA. It's a big one.
Re: Delaware 2019
Game Notes UD vs Hofstra 4.13.19
Last year the Hens won a 10-9 thriller over Hofstra on Strong Island. In typical UD fashion the Hens took an 8-3 lead into the half and scored only two goals the rest of the way while Ryan Tierney and company were pounding away at Matt DeLuca. He came up large with seven second-half saves to keep the Pride at bay.
The Hens won six face-offs on that day and were outshot 36 to 26. The Hens escaped with this one-goal road victory simply because they limited the turnovers to six and shot the ball better. Hofstra had no answer for Charlie Kitchen (five goals on just 8 shots).
What to expect: First, you should expect Ryan Tierney to be tough to contain. The junior attackman has 31 goals on the season and can shoot from nearly any angle (as long as the stick stays in his left hand). I watched him light up Gray Bodden at Towson by scoring his first goal on a sweep left off a screen at the top of the box. For the rest of the game Bodden WAY-overplayed his left hand and each time, Tierney simply stepped back to his right and unleashed lefty cannons past Canto and Brennan. Tierney is going to have an impact on the game. As Tierney goes, so go the Pride. He has 31 of the teams 96 goals this year. I can’t think of another D1 team that has a single player who accounts for over 32% of total goals (I’ll have to research that one).
While I have only watched three Hofstra games this year, I was really impressed with Ryan Kinnard, and Riley Forte at midfield. They are both very good athletes who shoot the ball well (Forte is a .389 shooter and Kinnard is at .265). Some other offensive contributors to keep an eye on are Jimmy Yanes at attack who is having an off year with just 6g 7a shooting at 17% (last year he had 24 goals and 11 assists) and freshman middie Sterlyn Ardrey with 7g 2a, shooting at 18%. The big Canadian attackman Dylan McIntosh has returned after missing 6 games with a broken jaw. He has 6 goals in five games. He is a big target for Tierney at crease attack with a wicked-quick release.
The Pride defense has not experienced a significant drop-off this year even after losing defensive guru Kevin Unterstein to UNC and several key seniors like Tanner Griffin, Brett Osman and All-American goalie Jack Concannan. The Pride are giving up just under 10 goals a game, which is good enough to be ranked #17 against some pretty good competition. They haven’t really missed a beat because they brought back SSDM Mark Ellis, Eric Wenz (19GBs, 8 STs), Keegan Santos (19 GBs, 8CTs) and Michael Altmann (27gbs, 15 CTs). This tight defensive unit held Rutgers and Towson to 10 goals and UMass, amazingly, to 9 goals. Goalie Bobby Casey has also been solid with a .524 save percentage.
The face-offs once again be a challenge for UD. Last week, the Hens had a dominating victory over Drexel yet only won 11 of 31 face-offs. I have a feeling this might be another one of those weeks. The Pride’s FOGO, Brian Herbert is winning at a .534 rate and went just a tick under 50% against the Big Cat two weeks ago.
Hofstra is a solid team. They lost by a single goal to Towson and Villanova and beat UMass and Lehigh. The weather is supposed to be nice (74 degrees partly cloudy). The game starts at 2pm. There is no reason the stadium shouldn’t be packed and pumped for this game (DVR the Masters if you are so inclined to spend a Saturday on the couch watching golf). I might even enjoy a cocktail or two at the pre-game. I really don’t see this being a high-scoring game. I think it will be just like last year with tight defense and a lot of bodies scattered about the field. If the Hens get to 11 they probably win. They have to limit the penalties, share the ball and win at least a third of the face-offs. Should be fun. We shall see.
"It is amazing what can be accomplished when nobody cares who gets credit."
Last year the Hens won a 10-9 thriller over Hofstra on Strong Island. In typical UD fashion the Hens took an 8-3 lead into the half and scored only two goals the rest of the way while Ryan Tierney and company were pounding away at Matt DeLuca. He came up large with seven second-half saves to keep the Pride at bay.
The Hens won six face-offs on that day and were outshot 36 to 26. The Hens escaped with this one-goal road victory simply because they limited the turnovers to six and shot the ball better. Hofstra had no answer for Charlie Kitchen (five goals on just 8 shots).
What to expect: First, you should expect Ryan Tierney to be tough to contain. The junior attackman has 31 goals on the season and can shoot from nearly any angle (as long as the stick stays in his left hand). I watched him light up Gray Bodden at Towson by scoring his first goal on a sweep left off a screen at the top of the box. For the rest of the game Bodden WAY-overplayed his left hand and each time, Tierney simply stepped back to his right and unleashed lefty cannons past Canto and Brennan. Tierney is going to have an impact on the game. As Tierney goes, so go the Pride. He has 31 of the teams 96 goals this year. I can’t think of another D1 team that has a single player who accounts for over 32% of total goals (I’ll have to research that one).
While I have only watched three Hofstra games this year, I was really impressed with Ryan Kinnard, and Riley Forte at midfield. They are both very good athletes who shoot the ball well (Forte is a .389 shooter and Kinnard is at .265). Some other offensive contributors to keep an eye on are Jimmy Yanes at attack who is having an off year with just 6g 7a shooting at 17% (last year he had 24 goals and 11 assists) and freshman middie Sterlyn Ardrey with 7g 2a, shooting at 18%. The big Canadian attackman Dylan McIntosh has returned after missing 6 games with a broken jaw. He has 6 goals in five games. He is a big target for Tierney at crease attack with a wicked-quick release.
The Pride defense has not experienced a significant drop-off this year even after losing defensive guru Kevin Unterstein to UNC and several key seniors like Tanner Griffin, Brett Osman and All-American goalie Jack Concannan. The Pride are giving up just under 10 goals a game, which is good enough to be ranked #17 against some pretty good competition. They haven’t really missed a beat because they brought back SSDM Mark Ellis, Eric Wenz (19GBs, 8 STs), Keegan Santos (19 GBs, 8CTs) and Michael Altmann (27gbs, 15 CTs). This tight defensive unit held Rutgers and Towson to 10 goals and UMass, amazingly, to 9 goals. Goalie Bobby Casey has also been solid with a .524 save percentage.
The face-offs once again be a challenge for UD. Last week, the Hens had a dominating victory over Drexel yet only won 11 of 31 face-offs. I have a feeling this might be another one of those weeks. The Pride’s FOGO, Brian Herbert is winning at a .534 rate and went just a tick under 50% against the Big Cat two weeks ago.
Hofstra is a solid team. They lost by a single goal to Towson and Villanova and beat UMass and Lehigh. The weather is supposed to be nice (74 degrees partly cloudy). The game starts at 2pm. There is no reason the stadium shouldn’t be packed and pumped for this game (DVR the Masters if you are so inclined to spend a Saturday on the couch watching golf). I might even enjoy a cocktail or two at the pre-game. I really don’t see this being a high-scoring game. I think it will be just like last year with tight defense and a lot of bodies scattered about the field. If the Hens get to 11 they probably win. They have to limit the penalties, share the ball and win at least a third of the face-offs. Should be fun. We shall see.
"It is amazing what can be accomplished when nobody cares who gets credit."
Re: Delaware 2019
Ardrey got pummeled by Isaac Paparo last week.freshman middie Sterlyn Ardrey with 7g 2a, shooting at 18%. The big Canadian attackman Dylan McIntosh has returned
It wasn’t anything intentional really, but more the state of today’s game. Wouldn’t be surprised if he gets held out for precaution. McIntosh looked like he reinjured himself against Towson, but I guess that was actually a minor thing. And also, I believe I saw a Whit Stopak sighting in the last game, so he might be available to play.
Re: Delaware 2019
McIntosh was back last week against UMass and had two goals. I am sure he will be playing on Saturday. Whit Stopak may have been at the game last week, but he didn't play. I saw him play against Stony Brook earlier this season and he was unstoppable from x. He looks like a real talent - super quick. I believe he was the reason Coach Tierney moved Yanes to midfield earlier this year.10stone5 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 11, 2019 12:13 pmArdrey got pummeled by Isaac Paparo last week.freshman middie Sterlyn Ardrey with 7g 2a, shooting at 18%. The big Canadian attackman Dylan McIntosh has returned
It wasn’t anything intentional really, but more the state of today’s game. Wouldn’t be surprised if he gets held out for precaution. McIntosh looked like he reinjured himself against Towson, but I guess that was actually a minor thing. And also, I believe I saw a Whit Stopak sighting in the last game, so he might be available to play.
Re: Delaware 2019
This news has no bearing on the weekend’s game, but Matt DeLuca was added to the Tewaaraton watch list yesterday. He is one of about 60 players on this list now. It is a nice acknowledgement of his contribution to the team success. But that’s about it.
Even my dead grandmother knows that Pat Spencer is going to win this year.
Even my dead grandmother knows that Pat Spencer is going to win this year.
Re: Delaware 2019
its a nice accolade for him and the program, but they should call it the best attack/offensive award. Goalies, defenders, fogos, ssdm, have no shot of ever winning.
Re: Delaware 2019
Delaware with another dominating victory in the CAA. They’re the first to lock up spot in CAA tourney. The Hens most likely have to go undefeated in order to host the tourney. UMass will beat Fairfield next week so the head to head match up with UMass in the final week should determine who is hosting (since Towson already lost tiebreaker to UMass).
The Drexel v Hofstra matchup next week probably determines which of those two teams gets in.
Another week of the experts saying UD has no chance of winning. 10-2 and 3-0.
This is a pretty good team.
The Drexel v Hofstra matchup next week probably determines which of those two teams gets in.
Another week of the experts saying UD has no chance of winning. 10-2 and 3-0.
This is a pretty good team.