Solid post by Henpecked as usual and I agree 100%.
Focusing on Navy reports from last week had them playing very well against UNC and Jacksonville, beating both unofficially. I expect a disciplined focused Navy team excited to be playing for a new coach. On the flip side Delaware has made tremendous strides in the DeLuca era. They too play very disciplined and don't beat themselves. Weather forecast is rain all day which is a shame for all, but very much looking forward to seeing the scrimmage.
Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 2020
Re: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 2020
Just a quick update on the Navy scrimmage.
Delaware got off to a very quick start going up 4-0 early in the 1st quarter. Charlie Kitchen scored the first two goals of the game, the second on a crafty back-hander beating Ryan Kern to the far post. Clay Miller scored the third goal on a nice assist from Kitchen. The 4th goal was scored by George Ward who ran with the first midfield today on a nice man-up feed from Tye Kurtz. Amplo called a timeout following that goal to get the team steadied. Navy went on to score the next two goals to end the first quarter down 4-2. I'm not too sure who scored the first Navy goal on the crease but the second was on a nice outside crank from Ryan Magnuson.
The second quarter started out great for the Hens as they extended their lead to 5-2 on a fastbreak goal by Tye Kurtz assisted by Calvert Hall frosh Harrison Ewing who played a really nice game at SSDM. The fastbreak came as a result of an Owen Grant caused turnover. Grant played an insanely good game at close defense with 6 CTs and a goal on a nice feed from Reed Kurtz early in the third quarter. The remainder of the second quarter was dominated by Navy with the midshipmen scoring 5 straight goals to go up 7-5 at halftime. Goals were scored by Nick Cole,Christian Daniel, Tyler Perreten (2) and Patrick Skalniak.
Hens switched out goalies at half. I had DeLuca with 8 saves in the first half. Defense played well, but Navy did a nice job of spinning the defense a bit and scored mostly on open shots inside close. I believe all of the Navy first half goals were assisted and the Christian Daniel goal was a behind the back shot just inches off the crease.
Michael Robinson played great at the lefty attack spot for the Hens and had a nice goal early in the third to tie the game at 7 on a terrific pass from Tye Kurtz. Midway through the third quarter DeLuca pulled all of the starters following a Navy goal by Dom Cole that made the score 8-7.
The rest of the game was fairly ugly with a ton of turnovers on both sides. Final score was Navy over the Hens 11-9.
Owen Ray and Brock Martin scored for Navy late while Kyle Kivinski and Jake DeMare had late goals for the Hens.
Starters for both sides looked very good. Kern, who only played the first half, had a ton of saves for the Midshipman. The Hens were missing starters Ryan Shaw, Wade Oursler, Steven Tortora and Brooke Rideau. They all appeared to be healthy. Good news for the game was that nobody got hurt and it didn't rain a drop for 2 hours.
That's all I got. Hopefully, someone covers the Denver scrimmage next week. Go Hens!
Delaware got off to a very quick start going up 4-0 early in the 1st quarter. Charlie Kitchen scored the first two goals of the game, the second on a crafty back-hander beating Ryan Kern to the far post. Clay Miller scored the third goal on a nice assist from Kitchen. The 4th goal was scored by George Ward who ran with the first midfield today on a nice man-up feed from Tye Kurtz. Amplo called a timeout following that goal to get the team steadied. Navy went on to score the next two goals to end the first quarter down 4-2. I'm not too sure who scored the first Navy goal on the crease but the second was on a nice outside crank from Ryan Magnuson.
The second quarter started out great for the Hens as they extended their lead to 5-2 on a fastbreak goal by Tye Kurtz assisted by Calvert Hall frosh Harrison Ewing who played a really nice game at SSDM. The fastbreak came as a result of an Owen Grant caused turnover. Grant played an insanely good game at close defense with 6 CTs and a goal on a nice feed from Reed Kurtz early in the third quarter. The remainder of the second quarter was dominated by Navy with the midshipmen scoring 5 straight goals to go up 7-5 at halftime. Goals were scored by Nick Cole,Christian Daniel, Tyler Perreten (2) and Patrick Skalniak.
Hens switched out goalies at half. I had DeLuca with 8 saves in the first half. Defense played well, but Navy did a nice job of spinning the defense a bit and scored mostly on open shots inside close. I believe all of the Navy first half goals were assisted and the Christian Daniel goal was a behind the back shot just inches off the crease.
Michael Robinson played great at the lefty attack spot for the Hens and had a nice goal early in the third to tie the game at 7 on a terrific pass from Tye Kurtz. Midway through the third quarter DeLuca pulled all of the starters following a Navy goal by Dom Cole that made the score 8-7.
The rest of the game was fairly ugly with a ton of turnovers on both sides. Final score was Navy over the Hens 11-9.
Owen Ray and Brock Martin scored for Navy late while Kyle Kivinski and Jake DeMare had late goals for the Hens.
Starters for both sides looked very good. Kern, who only played the first half, had a ton of saves for the Midshipman. The Hens were missing starters Ryan Shaw, Wade Oursler, Steven Tortora and Brooke Rideau. They all appeared to be healthy. Good news for the game was that nobody got hurt and it didn't rain a drop for 2 hours.
That's all I got. Hopefully, someone covers the Denver scrimmage next week. Go Hens!
Re: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 2020
Good work Henpecked !
Re: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 2020
Via Ty Xanders:
Navy came out on top 11-9 vs. the Blue Hens at Delaware Stadium on Saturday in a scrimmage that was played without a displayed score, but with stats kept. Delaware jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first six minutes of the contest; the Mids committed eight turnovers and Delaware picked up 12 groundballs to Navy’s seven in the opening period.
In the midst of a preseason schedule that includes five scrimmages before their first game vs. Manhattan on Feb. 7, coach Joe Amplo’s team buckled down in the second quarter — including a three-possession stretch that featured two shot clock violations and a turnover off a forced feed to the crease — and outscored the Hens 5-1 in the period.
The Mids were led by leading returning scorer, junior attackman Christian Daniel’s two goals and three assists and Tyler Perreten’s three goals and an assist. Perreten has a goal and an assist in five career games heading into this season and showcased good explosiveness as a dodger from the midfield. One of his goals came off of a rebound putback and the other came off a nice righty stepdown, and he hit a pipe for what could’ve been a fourth goal.
Delaware was led by familiar faces in senior Charlie Kitchen, who had two goals and an assist and showcased some excellent look-away feeding from X, and sophomore Tye Kurtz, who had a goal and two assists operating from the right wing. Freshman Mike Robinson was able to get a shot consistently from the left side, but was snakebitten, finishing 1-of-8 shooting and getting saved four times.
A breakout star looks to be sophomore defenseman Owen Grant, causing three turnovers, picking up seven groundballs and scoring a goal. Senior goalie Matt DeLuca made nine saves while allowing seven goals in the first half. His counterpart Ryan Kern made seven saves and allowed five goals in the first half.
Navy won the face-off edge 13-of-22. Freshman Nate Hammond had the best day, winning 5-of-7, and five Mids took a draw on the day. Freshman Roland Hockenberry had the best outing for Delaware, winning 8-of-11 as four Hens took draws.
Amplo and Delaware coach Ben DeLuca both said postgame that their goal for the afternoon was measuring their teams in unexpected situations; seeing how they reacted vs. an opponent they hadn’t seen or scouted and whose systems and personnel they were pretty hadn’t prepared.
“Different situations, and I think we got that,” Amplo said. “You saw in the first quarter, these guys jumped us, and we have to learn how to handle that.”
“We wanted to see guys put in scenarios you can’t simulate in practice,” DeLuca said. “Once you get up and down the field, decision making gets a little hectic. The pace of play was terrific for us to learn.”
Both coaches deferred identifying any surprising outcomes until after watching film, but DeLuca addressed the development of his defense’s increased ability to press on the perimeter as being personnel specific.
Amplo addressed his offense’s interchangeable parts by saying, “We don’t have an alpha male offensively. Christian Daniel is a slick kid, he can do some things. Nick Cole has experience. We’re probably five deep at attack and nine deep at the midfield. We do a depth chart every Monday, we put it on the board, and we leave that No. 1 spot blank because there is no alpha male. They’re all part of this group offensively that has to play together. We’re going to have to out-team people at the offensive end. We can’t feel like we have one guy who’s going to make the play and I think that’s a good thing for this group because they know they’re a part of something.”
Navy came out on top 11-9 vs. the Blue Hens at Delaware Stadium on Saturday in a scrimmage that was played without a displayed score, but with stats kept. Delaware jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first six minutes of the contest; the Mids committed eight turnovers and Delaware picked up 12 groundballs to Navy’s seven in the opening period.
In the midst of a preseason schedule that includes five scrimmages before their first game vs. Manhattan on Feb. 7, coach Joe Amplo’s team buckled down in the second quarter — including a three-possession stretch that featured two shot clock violations and a turnover off a forced feed to the crease — and outscored the Hens 5-1 in the period.
The Mids were led by leading returning scorer, junior attackman Christian Daniel’s two goals and three assists and Tyler Perreten’s three goals and an assist. Perreten has a goal and an assist in five career games heading into this season and showcased good explosiveness as a dodger from the midfield. One of his goals came off of a rebound putback and the other came off a nice righty stepdown, and he hit a pipe for what could’ve been a fourth goal.
Delaware was led by familiar faces in senior Charlie Kitchen, who had two goals and an assist and showcased some excellent look-away feeding from X, and sophomore Tye Kurtz, who had a goal and two assists operating from the right wing. Freshman Mike Robinson was able to get a shot consistently from the left side, but was snakebitten, finishing 1-of-8 shooting and getting saved four times.
A breakout star looks to be sophomore defenseman Owen Grant, causing three turnovers, picking up seven groundballs and scoring a goal. Senior goalie Matt DeLuca made nine saves while allowing seven goals in the first half. His counterpart Ryan Kern made seven saves and allowed five goals in the first half.
Navy won the face-off edge 13-of-22. Freshman Nate Hammond had the best day, winning 5-of-7, and five Mids took a draw on the day. Freshman Roland Hockenberry had the best outing for Delaware, winning 8-of-11 as four Hens took draws.
Amplo and Delaware coach Ben DeLuca both said postgame that their goal for the afternoon was measuring their teams in unexpected situations; seeing how they reacted vs. an opponent they hadn’t seen or scouted and whose systems and personnel they were pretty hadn’t prepared.
“Different situations, and I think we got that,” Amplo said. “You saw in the first quarter, these guys jumped us, and we have to learn how to handle that.”
“We wanted to see guys put in scenarios you can’t simulate in practice,” DeLuca said. “Once you get up and down the field, decision making gets a little hectic. The pace of play was terrific for us to learn.”
Both coaches deferred identifying any surprising outcomes until after watching film, but DeLuca addressed the development of his defense’s increased ability to press on the perimeter as being personnel specific.
Amplo addressed his offense’s interchangeable parts by saying, “We don’t have an alpha male offensively. Christian Daniel is a slick kid, he can do some things. Nick Cole has experience. We’re probably five deep at attack and nine deep at the midfield. We do a depth chart every Monday, we put it on the board, and we leave that No. 1 spot blank because there is no alpha male. They’re all part of this group offensively that has to play together. We’re going to have to out-team people at the offensive end. We can’t feel like we have one guy who’s going to make the play and I think that’s a good thing for this group because they know they’re a part of something.”
Caddy Day
Caddies Welcome 1-1:15
Caddies Welcome 1-1:15
Re: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 2020
I like Henpecked’s write up
much, much better
much, much better
Re: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 2020
The University of Delaware lacrosse program took another small step towards trying to end its CAA title drought (2011) last year, but still finished the season with an empty feeling after a playoff loss to Towson. For the Hens that feeling was tough to shake after a totally unexpected curb-stomping by the Towson Tigers in Amherst. The Hens lost by just two goals to the Tigers a week earlier, despite getting crushed on the faceoffs 19 to 9. And the semifinal match-up versus Towson actually started out great for the Hens when they scored back-to-back goals to go up 5-4 with less than 3 minutes to go in the first half. But things went south from there in a hurry.
So how did things fall apart so quickly for the Hens in that game? In a nutshell it came down to penalties and lack of possessions for UD. Towson scored 4 man-up goals as part of a nine-goal run that led to an insurmountable 13-5 lead in the third quarter. Making the comeback even more unlikely was the fact that the Tigers dominant face-off unit was on its way to winning 28 out of 32 on the day. With such limited possessions, the Hens could never regain their footing on offense. Game over. Season over. Ugh.
So what can we expect from the Hens in 2020?
The UD offense will be highlighted by an insanely talented attack group led by Senior Charlie Kitchen (37g 27a) who has tallied 102 goals and 55 assists in his first three years. With another good year, he will become just the 6th Hen to surpass 200 points in a career. Kitchen will be complemented by sophomore Canadian star Ty Kurtz whose 52 points (31g 21a) last year set the new record for a UD freshman passing the great Moses Marone (1979 - 50 pts). Completing this unit will be lefty Canadian freshman Michael Robinson who averaged 46 goals and 25 assists over his three years at the nation’s #1 prep school the Culver Military Academy. Robinson, who looked great both this fall versus UMBC (3g 1a) and in the Navy scrimmage this past weekend, should do a nice job filling in the gaping hole left behind after Joe Eisele’s graduation. Off the bench the Hens have sophomores George Ward and Jake Govett who should contribute on the man-up unit as off-ball lefty sharpshooters.
The defense should be another major strength for this Hens squad where they are DEEP and athletic. The close defense will be led by Zach Strassner and super-sophs Owen Grant and Kevin McCormick who both played a ton last year as freshmen. Coach DeLuca will sub in Tate Wasson and Connor Sorg to spot the starters from time to time. Wasson was rotated equally with McCormick on the starting unit versus Navy last weekend and looked fantastic. Projected starters at LSM are senior returnees Thomas Aloe and Ryan Shaw. And maybe we will see freshmen Connor Hurley and Josh Bayer get some time at LSM as well?
At SSDM the Hens are equally as deep. Returning to this unit are Peter St. Geme (after missing last year), Jason Seiter, Wade Oursler and 5th year senior Steven Tortora. St. Geme, a northern California native, is a big, physical and supremely gifted athlete whose father played football at Stanford with John Elway. He has shown dominance in both scrimmages (UMBC and Navy). Against Navy last week, Calvert Hall freshman Harrison Ewing also played a bunch at SSDM and showed off a ton of speed and great athleticism. Finally, the defense is anchored by the pre-season first team All-American goalie Matt DeLuca who was a monster last year with 207 saves and an .581 save percentage. He had some really nice saves this past weekend against Navy, so nothing has really changed there.
Offensively, the Hens have the most questions at midfield. They lost Dean DiSimone to graduation after a superb senior campaign (25g 11a). But the Hens do return senior Bryce Reid who had 17 goals and 13 assists last year as well as Clay Miller who came on strong at the end of the year and finished with 13 goals and 6 assists as a frosh. DeLuca will also call on Kyle Kivinski who scored 5 goals last year in limited play and perhaps McDonogh sophomore George Ward who played some middie late last year and looked really good creating separation up top in the Navy scrimmage this past weekend. Interesting to note, all four of these guys were attackman in high school. The only true high school middies projected to play are Californian Brooke Rideau who was injured last year after transferring following a junior college National Championship at Onondaga Community College and Canadian freshman Reed Kurtz (Tye’s Brother) the talented pass-first middie from Ontario. Reed is a top-notch box player for Kitchener in the Ontario Junior A Box league and may take some time for to get used to playing the field game. It will be a huge bonus if he adapts as quickly as his brother did last year. I also would not be surprised to see DeLuca turn to St.Geme on offense at some point. His freshman year he showed a real nose for the goal before being converted to SSDM.
The Hens are excited about the return of Jake Hervada at FOGO. He started out last year on fire winning 69% of the faceoffs he took before unfortunately breaking his wrist in the second game versus NJIT. The Hens will also rely on Roland Hockenberry, the freshman who looked pretty good this past weekend going up against Navy’s back-up FOGOs and winning 8 of 11.
I won’t be able to provide any insight on the Denver scrimmage this Friday afternoon, since I won’t be there and it is not televised. Maybe we will get some first-hand feedback from DU-fan or Dunker?
While I am generally pretty conservative on my predictions for Hen teams, this year I am going to go out on a limb and say that we will be watching them on CAA finals weekend. Now as to the question “who do they beat to get back into the NCAAs?” I have no idea. I will probably cobble together a CAA preview next week. I would guess that the top four in the conference will be unchanged from last year, but perhaps in a different order. We shall see.
So how did things fall apart so quickly for the Hens in that game? In a nutshell it came down to penalties and lack of possessions for UD. Towson scored 4 man-up goals as part of a nine-goal run that led to an insurmountable 13-5 lead in the third quarter. Making the comeback even more unlikely was the fact that the Tigers dominant face-off unit was on its way to winning 28 out of 32 on the day. With such limited possessions, the Hens could never regain their footing on offense. Game over. Season over. Ugh.
So what can we expect from the Hens in 2020?
The UD offense will be highlighted by an insanely talented attack group led by Senior Charlie Kitchen (37g 27a) who has tallied 102 goals and 55 assists in his first three years. With another good year, he will become just the 6th Hen to surpass 200 points in a career. Kitchen will be complemented by sophomore Canadian star Ty Kurtz whose 52 points (31g 21a) last year set the new record for a UD freshman passing the great Moses Marone (1979 - 50 pts). Completing this unit will be lefty Canadian freshman Michael Robinson who averaged 46 goals and 25 assists over his three years at the nation’s #1 prep school the Culver Military Academy. Robinson, who looked great both this fall versus UMBC (3g 1a) and in the Navy scrimmage this past weekend, should do a nice job filling in the gaping hole left behind after Joe Eisele’s graduation. Off the bench the Hens have sophomores George Ward and Jake Govett who should contribute on the man-up unit as off-ball lefty sharpshooters.
The defense should be another major strength for this Hens squad where they are DEEP and athletic. The close defense will be led by Zach Strassner and super-sophs Owen Grant and Kevin McCormick who both played a ton last year as freshmen. Coach DeLuca will sub in Tate Wasson and Connor Sorg to spot the starters from time to time. Wasson was rotated equally with McCormick on the starting unit versus Navy last weekend and looked fantastic. Projected starters at LSM are senior returnees Thomas Aloe and Ryan Shaw. And maybe we will see freshmen Connor Hurley and Josh Bayer get some time at LSM as well?
At SSDM the Hens are equally as deep. Returning to this unit are Peter St. Geme (after missing last year), Jason Seiter, Wade Oursler and 5th year senior Steven Tortora. St. Geme, a northern California native, is a big, physical and supremely gifted athlete whose father played football at Stanford with John Elway. He has shown dominance in both scrimmages (UMBC and Navy). Against Navy last week, Calvert Hall freshman Harrison Ewing also played a bunch at SSDM and showed off a ton of speed and great athleticism. Finally, the defense is anchored by the pre-season first team All-American goalie Matt DeLuca who was a monster last year with 207 saves and an .581 save percentage. He had some really nice saves this past weekend against Navy, so nothing has really changed there.
Offensively, the Hens have the most questions at midfield. They lost Dean DiSimone to graduation after a superb senior campaign (25g 11a). But the Hens do return senior Bryce Reid who had 17 goals and 13 assists last year as well as Clay Miller who came on strong at the end of the year and finished with 13 goals and 6 assists as a frosh. DeLuca will also call on Kyle Kivinski who scored 5 goals last year in limited play and perhaps McDonogh sophomore George Ward who played some middie late last year and looked really good creating separation up top in the Navy scrimmage this past weekend. Interesting to note, all four of these guys were attackman in high school. The only true high school middies projected to play are Californian Brooke Rideau who was injured last year after transferring following a junior college National Championship at Onondaga Community College and Canadian freshman Reed Kurtz (Tye’s Brother) the talented pass-first middie from Ontario. Reed is a top-notch box player for Kitchener in the Ontario Junior A Box league and may take some time for to get used to playing the field game. It will be a huge bonus if he adapts as quickly as his brother did last year. I also would not be surprised to see DeLuca turn to St.Geme on offense at some point. His freshman year he showed a real nose for the goal before being converted to SSDM.
The Hens are excited about the return of Jake Hervada at FOGO. He started out last year on fire winning 69% of the faceoffs he took before unfortunately breaking his wrist in the second game versus NJIT. The Hens will also rely on Roland Hockenberry, the freshman who looked pretty good this past weekend going up against Navy’s back-up FOGOs and winning 8 of 11.
I won’t be able to provide any insight on the Denver scrimmage this Friday afternoon, since I won’t be there and it is not televised. Maybe we will get some first-hand feedback from DU-fan or Dunker?
While I am generally pretty conservative on my predictions for Hen teams, this year I am going to go out on a limb and say that we will be watching them on CAA finals weekend. Now as to the question “who do they beat to get back into the NCAAs?” I have no idea. I will probably cobble together a CAA preview next week. I would guess that the top four in the conference will be unchanged from last year, but perhaps in a different order. We shall see.
Last edited by Henpecked on Fri Feb 07, 2020 9:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 2020
Great analysis of the Hens 2020 outlook. I agree with it all, as they have the pieces for a successful season. What they need to do is beat some ranked teams which is what they have been unable to do in the DeLuca era. All five losses last year came at the hands of ranked opponents. The last time they beat a ranked team was in Coach Schillinglaw's final season beating then number one Rutgers at Delaware Stadium. In the previous year they beat then number six Towson in Baltimore. They will again have chances this year with an early game against Villanova 18 and then Hopkins 11, before CAA play with Umass 19 and Towson 17. If they beat the unranked teams and can take some of these teams, they will get real national attention.
They are on their way today to Denver which will provide another good pre season test.
They are on their way today to Denver which will provide another good pre season test.
Re: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 2020
Reports from Denver were all positive. While I have no specific details on individual performances, the Hens dominated the Pios all night.
UD came out hot once again, going up 4-0 early and ended the first half with an 8-2 lead. With five minutes left in the third DeLuca took out all starters with Hens leading 11-4. UD cleared the bench late to finish the scrimmage. Final score was 19-6. Love to get more details from any attendees if possible.
I think the guys are ready to start the season next Saturday. Let’s hope for good weather and rowdy crowd. Can’t wait!
UD came out hot once again, going up 4-0 early and ended the first half with an 8-2 lead. With five minutes left in the third DeLuca took out all starters with Hens leading 11-4. UD cleared the bench late to finish the scrimmage. Final score was 19-6. Love to get more details from any attendees if possible.
I think the guys are ready to start the season next Saturday. Let’s hope for good weather and rowdy crowd. Can’t wait!
Re: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 2020
I heard the same from a DU parent, that the Blue Hens owned the Pio's.
Re: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 2020
Just a quick shout out to Henpecked for all of the pre-season news and analysis. I haven't been this fired about UD lacrosse in a long time! Scrimmage or no scrimmage a throttling of a Bill Tierney coached team is a very uncommon event. Looking forward to the games that count!
Re: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 2020
Hens had a decent start to their season on Saturday versus the always tough Mt. St. Mary's squad. The first quarter was a cold bucket of water thrown in the Hens faces before going on a 13-4 run for the remainder of the game.
I have never seen a team put up three short-handed goals in a game before the Hens did it Saturday. Pretty impressive.
That said, the game would have been a bigger win if the Hens didn't spend so much time man-down. Their aggressive doubling D lends itself to some penalties but giving up 4 man-down goals is not a great sign. Penalties killed the Hens in both losses to Towson last year. Need to stay clean on defense this year. Growing pains. My $.02.
Onto NJIT.
I have never seen a team put up three short-handed goals in a game before the Hens did it Saturday. Pretty impressive.
That said, the game would have been a bigger win if the Hens didn't spend so much time man-down. Their aggressive doubling D lends itself to some penalties but giving up 4 man-down goals is not a great sign. Penalties killed the Hens in both losses to Towson last year. Need to stay clean on defense this year. Growing pains. My $.02.
Onto NJIT.
Re: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 2020
Surprised you didn't mention Mike Robinson, the freshman from Culver/Peterborough Ontario. All he did was score seven goals on ten shots in his first game. The kid can really sling it.
Re: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 2020
With Towson and UMass both looking suspect this week, Delaware should be the favorites in the CAA moving forward. Robinson's debut was impressive.
The Hens are likely to start the season 4-0. Then comes a tough stretch with Villanova, Hopkins, and Michigan—but all three of those games are at home. I think 5-2 or 6-1 headed into conference play is likely, and I would not even rule out being undefeated. The Hopkins game is in Newark on a Tuesday night a few days after the Jays have to play at Navy. Sounds like the recipe for an upset.
I would be very surprised if Delaware finishes the season with more than 3 or 4 total losses. The downside is that the strength of schedule isn't the greatest, so even with a very good overall record it might still be CAA or bust in terms of an NCAA tourney berth.
The Hens are likely to start the season 4-0. Then comes a tough stretch with Villanova, Hopkins, and Michigan—but all three of those games are at home. I think 5-2 or 6-1 headed into conference play is likely, and I would not even rule out being undefeated. The Hopkins game is in Newark on a Tuesday night a few days after the Jays have to play at Navy. Sounds like the recipe for an upset.
I would be very surprised if Delaware finishes the season with more than 3 or 4 total losses. The downside is that the strength of schedule isn't the greatest, so even with a very good overall record it might still be CAA or bust in terms of an NCAA tourney berth.
Re: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 2020
Tough to ignore the freshman Mike Robinson. The guy gets off shots so quickly and with such precision it is crazy. While we are praising Robinson it is also worth noting that he, like his Canadian counterpart at attack - Tye Kurtz, is a ground ball machine. Several times in the game Kurtz (4 GBs) and Robinson (5 GBs) came up huge with groundballs to extend an offensive possession.
Other freshman that looked really good on Saturday included Tate Wasson on close defense with 3 CTs and Robinson's Culver Academy teammate Jake DeMare who had two beautiful goals. Calvert Hall frosh Harrison Ewing got some run at SSDM and did a really nice job as well. I thought DeLuca did a great job subbing in SSDMs throughout the game. They all looked solid including freshman Reid Kurtz, Jason Seiter and Peter St.Geme. I noticed that MSM was consistently inverting its middies to get Hen shorties covering behind the net. Not once did these guys get beat from behind. They were all super physical.
The only real negative on the game beside NINE MINUTES of penalties, was the Hens forcing inside the crease on offense in the first quarter. They must have seen something that they thought they could exploit but it went horribly wrong with five turnovers in the the first 9 minutes of the game feeding inside to a clogged crease.
And, as per usual, Charlie Kitchen came up big with 4 goals and 1 assist on the day. He played a really solid game and settled things down getting the offense back in sync in the second quarter. Only 1 turnover on the day.
Re: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 2020
D1 MEN: 7 Goals by Delaware Freshman Mike Robinson (video)
http://fanlax.com/fanlax/2020/02/11/d1- ... -robinson/
http://fanlax.com/fanlax/2020/02/11/d1- ... -robinson/
Caddy Day
Caddies Welcome 1-1:15
Caddies Welcome 1-1:15
Re: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 2020
CAA Player and Rookie of the week for the Hens
https://caasports.com/news/2020/2/11/ca ... eb-11.aspx
https://caasports.com/news/2020/2/11/ca ... eb-11.aspx
Re: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 2020
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spartanslynx
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Re: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 2020
Quint K just had a big hot take. He thinks Delaware can go undefeated!?
Re: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 2020
I think people took another look at that game last week. Mount Saint Mary’s beat some teams last year, and/or hung tough with some top teams.
That was not a patsy win.
That was not a patsy win.