The University of Delaware faces one of the most imposing challenges imaginable in Sunday’s NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Tournament round-of-16 visit to Duke.
But it’s also a welcomed by the Blue Hens, who’ve surmounted daunting obstacles before.
“If we do a good job alleviating distractions and staying focused, our guys can compete with anyone in the country,” sixth-year UD coach Ben DeLuca said.
For players, it’s a chance to see how far they’ve come since a February, 2022, trip to Durham, well before the Blue Hens found their stride in May and reached the NCAA quarterfinals.
For DeLuca, it’s a return to the place and a reunion with the opposing coach who, at the low point of DeLuca’s career, helped spark his professional resurrection.
Trying to make magic again
Delaware (13-4) is coming off Wednesday’s 25-10 rout of Marist at Delaware Stadium in the 17-team tournament’s lone play-in game. Last year, Delaware took the momentum from a similar 20-8 romp over Robert Morris and stunned No. 2-seeded Georgetown 10-9 four nights later.
Repeating that accomplishment will be a formidable task against the top-seeded Blue Devils (13-2) at their Koskinen Stadium in the 5 p.m. face-off (ESPNU). Duke was the fifth seed when it beat Delaware in the schools’ only previous NCAA bout 15-14 in a 2011 first-round matchup there.
The Blue Devils are on a mission after not being chosen for last year’s NCAA Tournament. They feature three first-team USA Lacrosse All-Americans in attackman Brennan O’Neill, face-off specialist Jake Naso and defender Kenny Brower.
“It’s a huge challenge but our guys are ready for that,” DeLuca said.
BACK FOR MORE:Delaware relishes shot at repeating 2022 exploits
Open the record book
Delaware’s 25 goals Wednesday night equaled the second most in history in an NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Tournament game, topped only by Syracuse’s 28-7 win over Michigan State in 1991.
It also tied for the third most goals in a game in UD history as Delaware took a remarkable 64 shots.
Mike Robinson (7 goals/1 assist) and Tye Kurtz (5 goals/3 assists) led the way with school NCAA highs of eight points each, much to the delight of 1,857 fans, the most in Delaware Stadium for a lacrosse game in 12 years. Robinson’s seven goals were also a Blue Hens NCAA record.
Return trip
Delaware lost 19-14 in last year’s visit to Duke. The Hens trailed by five in the first half but were down just 14-12 entering the fourth period before Duke pulled away.
Owen Grant, the Delaware defender chosen second overall in Tuesday’s Premier Lacrosse League draft, was asked if that experience was beneficial in Sunday’s rematch.
“One-hundred percent,” he said. “. . . It’s definitely an advantage having gone down there and making that trip, playing their top players. Last year we went there and we weren’t the same lineup that we were at the end of the year, so I’m excited to see our guys go against theirs.”
Special place, coach
DeLuca was head coach at his alma mater, Cornell, from 2011-13 but was fired in the fall of 2013 two months after a team hazing incident. DeLuca has long used descriptions such as “learning experience” and “opportunity for personal growth” rather than expressing bitterness about that situation.
In early 2014, Duke coach John Danowski hired DeLuca as a volunteer assistant coach on his staff. Duke was 2014 NCAA champ. DeLuca stayed at Duke two seasons before joining the Harvard staff for two seasons and then being hired by Delaware after Bob Shillinglaw’s retirement in 2017.
The emotion in DeLuca’s voice and on his face were clear when asked about Danowski, who also had DeLuca on his 2018 U.S. team staff for the World Championships.
“He’s a great friend, a phenomenal mentor, one of the best if not the best to ever do it, and I just respect the heck out of him,” DeLuca said. “ . . . We still talk quite often and he’ll always be a mentor and role model to me. I learned a great deal from him and have carried a lot of what I learned from him to how I operate as a head coach now.”
Statistically speaking
There are just two teams in the top 10 nationally in both scoring offense and scoring defense and Delaware is one of them.
The Blue Hens are third in goals against per game (9.29) and sixth in goals scored (14.94).
Only Notre Dame is also in the top 10 in both – third with 15.83 goals scored per game and sixth with 9.83 against.
Have an idea for a compelling local sports story or is there an issue that needs public scrutiny? Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com.
