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Delaware Lacrosse News |
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February 5 ,2009
Men’s Lacrosse Opens Promising Season
Saturday vs. Saint Joseph’s
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NEWARK, Del. -- The University of Delaware men’s lacrosse squad, ranked
in the national top 25 in several pre-season polls, will once again kick
off the collegiate lacrosse season Saturday as the Blue Hens host Saint
Joseph’s at 1 p.m. at Rullo Stadium.
The Delaware vs. Saint Joseph’s matchup will be one of four collegiate
games Saturday as the 2009 lacrosse season opens. Navy will host VMI at
noon, North Carolina will host Robert Morris at noon, and Ohio State
will take on Detroit Mercy in Columbus, Ohio at 1 p.m.
The Blue Hens, who return 19 letterwinners from last year’s squad that
went 9-7, have been picked No. 20 in the Inside Lacrosse/Faceoff
Yearbook and No. 23 in the LAXNews.com poll. In addition, the Hens have
been picked No. 2 in the pre-season Colonial Athletic Association
coaches poll.
Led by 30th-year head coach Bob Shillinglaw, the Hens will be looking to
post an unprecedented sixth straight winning season and advance to the
CAA Tournament semifinals for the sixth straight time. Shillinglaw needs
just one win to reach 250 for his career at Delaware and become just the
eighth coach in Division I college history to reach that win plateau at
one school.
"The coaching staff and players are excited to begin the 2009 season,”
said Shillinglaw. “This group has been working extremely hard in
pre-season and are ready for the challenges of our demanding non
conference schedule and the very competitive CAA conference schedule."
The Blue Hens are led by a trio of pre-season All-CAA selections in
junior attackman Curtis Dickson, junior midfielder Martin Cahill, and
sophomore defender Pat Dowling.
Dickson was the runner-up for CAA Player of the Year honors a year ago
and earned a spot on the USILA honorable mention All-American squad and
All-CAA first team after leading the team and the CAA in scoring with 62
points on 46 goals and 16 assists.
He scored two or more goals 12 times during the season, including
netting a season-high six goals vs. Drexel and five each vs. Stony
Brook, UMBC, and Marist. He also earned pre-season All-American honors
by Inside Lacrosse earlier this year.
Cahill, a second-year starter, earned first team All-CAA honors as a
sophomore in 2007 when he was second on the team in goals scored (29)
and fourth on the squad in total points with 38. He scored three goals
in a game six times last season and netted the game-winner in the Hens’
thrilling 8-7 triple overtime win over Albany.
Dowling earned a spot on the CAA All-Rookie team a year ago as a
redshirt freshmen when he started all 16 games and led the team with 18
caused turnovers while scooping up 35 groundballs. He anchored a
Delaware defense that held opponents to only 9.34 goals per game.
Other top Blue Hens to watch are attackmen Pat Lombard (four goals) and
Nick LoManto (two goals), midfielders Beau Davis (13 goals), Kevin
Kaminski (16 goals in 2007), and Anthony Ruiz (four goals, 94 faceoffs),
and defenders Sean Kostkowski and Braedon Dennis. Sophomore Noah Fossner
will take over goalkeeper duties from three-year starter and 2008
All-American Tom Scherr.
Delaware has defeated Saint Joseph’s in all eight meetings, including
wins of 18-10 last year in Philadelphia and 23-6 in 2007 at Rullo
Stadium. The Hawks, who went 4-11 last season, are led by three
pre-season All-MAAC selections in goalkeeper Erik Hotaling, attackman
Sean Cullinan (28 goals), and defender Tom Wengenosky.
Source: University of Delaware Sports Information Dept.
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