Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/25/18
The last time the University of Delaware men’s lacrosse team was 3-0 most of its current members were barely in high school and current assistant coach Noah Fossner was the starting goalie. That was 2011.
The Blue Hens matched that start on a rainy Saturday afternoon at Kessler Field on the campus of Monmouth University after a quick start helped Delaware to a 15-11 victory over the reigning MAAC Champions.
Junior Jake Hervada (Haverford School) set the tone early, winning the first eight face-offs on the day and completed on the X all afternoon long. He went 21-of-28 on the day, the highest single game total in 11 years (Alex Smith (27) vs. Manhattan, 2/24/07).
Offensively, four different Blue Hens logged hat tricks on the day, led by Charlie Kitchen’s (St. Augustine Prep) four goals and two assists. Will Hirschmann, Joe Eisele (St. Augustine Prep) and Bryce Reid (Avon Grove) all had hat tricks on the day as well, to led a balanced and potent scoring attack.
Sophomore Matt DeLuca notched his third straight game with double-digit saves with 12 on the day and limited the Hawks to just four goals through the first three quarters.
“As a whole, the mindset during the week is to just get better every day,” Hervada said. “Today we just wanted to make tough unselfish plays. Being 3-0 couldn’t be a better feeling, and it’s something our class hasn’t experienced since we’ve been here. Now we need to be ready for a very good opponent coming to Delaware Stadium next week.”
Robert Morris 12, Penn State 9
The Nittany Lions fell to Robert Morris on a rainy afternoon at Panzer Stadium in University Park, Pa.
The Nittany Lions got three points from juniors Matt Donnelly (Clearview Regional-NJ) and Kevin Hill, as both tallied two goals and an assist.
Junior Ryan Keenan also added two goals out of the midfield, adding three ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Junior Chris Sabia (Haverford School) had a solid all-around game, scoring a goal in his third straight contest, and causing a career-best five caused turnovers, and scooping up five ground balls. Sophomore Gerard Arceri went 17-24 on the face, adding one goal and 10 ground balls. In the cage, sophomore goalie Colby Kneese tallied 10 saves.
Providence 4, St. Joseph’s 3
Sean Leahey scored the game-winner in the fourth period as the Hawks fell to 0-2. Chris Blewitt scored twice for St. Joe’s.
Albany 18, Drexel 5
Drexel suffered its second straight loss to open the season at No. 2 Albany.
Loyola 19, Lafayette 5
The Leopards opened up Patriot League play, dropping a contest to No. 10 Loyola in Baltimore.
Ryan McNulty (Bishop Shanahan) had a goal, an assist, two groundballs and a caused turnover for Loyola.
