Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/18/16
From press Release
The slow starts that have hampered the University of Delaware men’s lacrosse team this season were nothing but a distant memory Saturday afternoon.
The Blue Hens pulled off one of the bigger upsets of the men’s college lacrosse season as Delaware jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first two minutes of the game and never trailed in knocking off No. 7 ranked Towson 10-7 at Johnny Unitas Stadium.
Delaware (5-8, 2-1 Colonial Athletic Association) moved back into the thick of the CAA race as junior Paul Major (Spring-Ford, Duke’s LC) scored four goals and Steve DeLargy added two as part of the upset victory. Andrew Romagnoli and Dean DiSimone (St. Augustine Prep) each added a goal and an assist and goalkeeper Parker Ferrigan (at left) made 11 stops.
The Hens snapped a personal four-game losing streak to the Tigers (10-2, 2-1 CAA), who had a five-game win streak snapped and lost for the first time since a March 12 setback to Johns Hopkins.
“Our staff couldn’t be happier for the team,” said Delaware head coach Bob Shillinglaw, who picked up his 327th career victory, his first over the Tigers since 2011, and his first at Towson since a 2007 CAA Tournament title game victory. “It was an excellent effort and our guys followed and executed the game plan. It was a collective team effort.”
The Blue Hens, who had been outscored by a collective 39-20 margin in the first quarter this season, struck early and often in this one as the Hens led 3-0 two minutes in and took a 5-2 lead after the first quarter. Towson never got closer than two goals the rest of the afternoon.
Delaware freshman Jake Hervada (Haverford School) picked a good time to score his first career goal as the faceoff specialist won the opening draw, scooped up the groundball, and scored past Towson All-American goalkeeper Tyler White just six seconds into the game.
It tied for the Hens’ second fastest goal to start a game in school history, trailing on the NCAA record three seconds it took Jordan Hall to score vs. Albany in 2005.
Hervada won 9 of 20 face-offs and was named the CAA Rookie of the Week today. He also had six ground balls and a caused turnover against the Tigers.
But Delaware didn’t stop there as Major scored two goals just 1:18 apart to push the lead to 3-0, Romagnoli scored with 10:05 left in the opening quarter, and DiSimone tallied with 6:47 left as UD took a 5-2 lead after one quarter. Major completed his first half hat trick with a goal just four minutes into the second quarter and the Hens went into halftime up 6-4.
The Hens took control with three straight goals in the second half as Jake Levine scored with 2:22 left in the third quarter and Major tallied his fourth goal with just eight seconds remaining in the same frame for an 8-4 lead.
DeLargy then scored 3:11 into the final quarter to push the lead to 9-5. Towson narrowed the gap to 9-6 on two goals by Ryan Drenner, but DeLargy added even more insurance with a goal at the 6:13 mark.
Delaware knocked off its second Top 20 opponent of the season (a 9-7 win over then No. 20 UMass on Apr. 2) and defeated its highest ranked opponent since a 7-6 triumph over then No. 4 Hofstra in 2011.
HEN SCRATCHINGS:
• Delaware is now tied for second place in the CAA with a 2-1 mark with home games vs. Drexel (Apr. 23) and Fairfield (Apr. 29) remaining on the schedule
• Major recorded his fifth career hat trick and his fourth of the season
• DeLargy has scored a point in a team-leading nine straight games
• Hervada finished the day by winning 9 of 20 faceoffs