Men’s lacrosse battles to NCAA semifinals

The men’s lacrosse team captured its first Colonial Athletic Association championship this spring and earned a berth in the NCAA Division I championship tournament, making it to the Final Four before falling in the semifinal game to the eventual national champion, Johns Hopkins University.

After struggling at times though the middle part of the season, a stretch that followed a strong start, the Hens caught fire and went on to win five in a row at the end of the season. Led by Head Coach Bob Shillinglaw, they captured the CAA title with a 10-7 win at No. 14 Towson on May 5, giving them an automatic berth in the 16-team NCAA tournament.

In a major upset in the first-round tournament game, the Hens defeated defending national champion and second-seeded University of Virginia at Charlottesville. With the game tied 7-7 in the third quarter, the Blue Hens went on a 7-0 run and won one of the biggest games in program history, 14-8.

The team followed up that success with a quarterfinal win against the University of Maryland Baltimore County. The pair of victories took UD into the national semifinals for the first time in school history.

At the semifinal game, played before 52,000 fans at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium on May 26, the Hens lost 8-3 to perennial power Johns Hopkins.

UD fell behind 1-0 after the first quarter, with goalkeeper Tommy Scherr making several key stops to keep the score close. Johns Hopkins scored again in the second quarter for a two-goal lead before UD’s Curtis Dickson placed the ball between the legs of the goalkeeper to cut the margin in half going into the break.

In the third quarter, Johns Hopkins again extended the lead, going up 3-1, but the Hens quickly struck back on a score by J.J. Moran and kept things tight until under one minute left, when Johns Hopkins scored twice to make it 5-2. The Blue Jays, carrying play in the fourth quarter, extended their lead to 8-2 before UD’s Dan Deckelbaum found the net to stop the Johns Hopkins run.

With an assist on Moran’s goal in the third quarter, UD senior Jordan Hall extended his streak of consecutive games with a point to 31 straight games. During the streak, Hall scored 42 goals and had 30 assists. Scherr finished with 11 saves.

“I thought our kids played hard for four quarters all year and today was no exception,” Shillinglaw said. “I thought both teams battled it out, but their goalkeeper [Jesse Schwartzman] played exceptionally well and closed the door on us. Our guys were thinking twice about their shots. Obviously Hopkins has an outstanding defense.”

UD All-America Alex Smith, the NCAA all-time leader in face-offs, won just seven of 15 draws in the game. “I’m proud to represent my school in the Final Four and be a member of this team,” Smith said. “We lost this game, but just being here was such a great thing for our program and for the University of Delaware.”

Senior Rob Smith, a transfer from Georgetown University who also was named first team All-CAA, led the defensive unit, and Scherr was one of the top goalkeepers in the conference. The Hens finished the season 13-6.

Hopkins went on to the final game of the tournament May 28 and claimed its ninth lacrosse title, withstanding a furious Duke rally before escaping with a 12-11 victory.