Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/7/22
From Press Release
Delaware senior Tye Kurtz matched the Championship single-game record with six goals as the Blue Hens won their first Colonial Athletic Association Men’s Lacrosse Championship since 2011 with an 11-6 victory over Towson on Saturday at Vidas Field.
Kurtz’s six goals tied the total last achieved by teammate Mike Robinson in Thursday’s Semifinal victory. Kurtz, Robinson, J.P. Ward, and Matt Kilkeary were named to the All-Tournament Team for their efforts in Delaware’s run to the title. The Blue Hens are CAA Champions for the fourth time after previously capturing the conference crown in 2007, 2010, and 2011.
Delaware struck 21 seconds into the contest when Logan Premtaj’s face-off win led to Kurtz ripping a shot past the Towson goalie for an early lead. Clay Miller would add another two minutes later to double the Delaware advantage.
Towson got on the board on a bounce shot from Luke Shilling before Robinson pushed the Delaware lead back to two midway through the quarter. The Tigers would even the contest at three on goals from Nick DeMaio and Kyle Berkeley before Kurtz retook the lead for the Blue Hens at 4-3 through 15 minutes.
Kurtz would score three more times in a 4-1 second quarter that gave Delaware an 8-4 advantage at the half. Kurtz tallied his third and fourth of the day before a strike from Kyle Kivinski gave the Blue Hens a 7-4 cushion. The senior from Ontario would find the back of the net again on the man-up for a four-goal lead with 95 seconds remaining before halftime.
Kurtz tallied the only goal for either team in the third quarter with a diving one-handed goal to match the tournament single-game record at six on the afternoon. The Blue Hens and Tigers would trade two goals each in the fourth quarter for the final 11-6 margin with Shilling factoring into both Towson scores.
Shilling, with four points on the afternoon, was joined by Shane Brennan and Koby Smith as Towson’s All-Tournament selections.
Kilkeary made six saves for Delaware in the victory. Brennan turned aside 15 shots for the Tigers in a valiant effort in the cage to keep Towson in striking distance despite a 42-29 shot differential and 26-12 edge in shots on goal. Delaware’s 30 goals in its two victories this week were the third-most by the CAA Champion in the history of the tournament; Towson scored 34 goals in 2019 and 33 in 2003.
Delaware will hear its name called on Sunday night when the NCAA Division I Lacrosse Selection Show airs on ESPNU at 9 p.m.
All-Tournament Team
Tye Kurtz, Delaware (MOP)
Matt Kilkeary, Delaware
Mike Robinson, Delaware
J.P. Ward, Delaware
Shane Brennan, Towson
Luke Shilling, Towson
Koby Smith, Towson
Jack Farrell (Haverford High), Drexel
Ryan Genord, Drexel
Sam Eisenstadt, UMass
Aidan Kaminska, UMass