Delaware surges in 2nd half to rout Detroit, 19-6, in season opener as Shillinglaw gains his 300th win

Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/4/12
From Press Releases

University of Delaware men’s lacrosse head coach Bob Shillinglaw reached an impressive coaching milestone today in the Blue Hens’ season-opening 19-6 victory over Detroit at Delaware Stadium.

The 19th ranked Blue Hens broke a 4-4 halftime deadlock by exploding for 12 goals in the third quarter and cruised to the victory to give Shillinglaw his 300th career victory.

Grant Kaleikau, Sean Finegan, and Danny Keane each scored four goals and Kaleikau added four assists as the Blue Hens (1-0) opened the NCAA Division I men’s college lacrosse season with some offensive fireworks on a gray, chilly day. Dom Sebastiani (Moorestown) added two goals and two assists.

The victory improved Shillinglaw’s 37-year record to 300-264, making him only the third active NCAA Division I head coach to reach that win plateau and only the eight in the history of men’s college lacrosse to equal the 300-win mark.

“This means a lot,” said Shillinglaw, who has now won 276 of those games in 34 seasons at the helm of the Blue Hens. “So many people had a part in this. I’ve had so many outstanding assistant coaches and players who have made me look good over the years. I’m just really proud of all the alums out there, many of them who were here to today, who made this possible. I’m proud if this year’s team and I’m proud to be a part of the University of Delaware lacrosse program.”

Shillinglaw, a two-time national Coach of the Year who has led Delaware to six NCAA Tournament appearances, including each of the last two seasons, joins Georgetown’s Dave Urick and Virginia’s Dom Starsia as the only current NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse head coaches who have reached the mark.

The milestone win looked miles away for Delaware at halftime as Detroit (0-1) forged the tie on a man-down goal by John Nowicki with 4:51 left in the second quarter.

Shillinglaw swears it wasn’t his halftime speech, but the Blue Hens came out in the second half like a team possessed. Delaware scored three goals in the first four minutes of the stanza to take a 7-4 lead before Detroit answered with a goal Shayne Adams at the 10:15 mark to make it a two-goal game.

The rest of the quarter was a blur as the Blue Hens reeled off nine straight goals to finish the stanza with 12 total and took a 16-5 advantage into the final quarter. Delaware never went more than three minutes between goals the entire stanza.

Kaleikau, an All-American candidate and team’s top returning scorer, tallied three goals and assisted on three others in the stanza while Keane and Finegan each scored twice.

“He is just a great guy and to get his 300th win is huge,” said Kaleikau. “He does so much for this program. He is the face of Delaware lacrosse.”

Scoring
Detroit SCORING: GOALS: ADAMS, Shayne 3; MATTHEWS, Joel 1; HARRIS, Scott 1; NOWICKI, John 1.
ASSISTS: MASTERSON, Tom 2; HARRIS, Scott 1; MATTHEWS, Joel 1; SCHROER, Tyler 1.

Delaware SCORING: GOALS: Kaleikau, Grant 4; Finegan, Sean 4; Keane, Danny 4; Sebastiani, Dom 2; Gilson, Brenden 1; Holland, Tom 1; McRoy, Connor 1; Diachenko, Nick 1; Johnson, Garrett 1.
ASSISTS: Kaleikau, Grant 4; Gilson, Brenden 2; Sebastiani, Dom 2; Conte, Elijah 1; Cooney, Dan 1; Holland, Tom 1; McRoy, Connor 1.