BALTIMORE, MD -- The University of Delaware men’s lacrosse squad will take part in its first ever NCAA Tournament semifinal game Saturday as the Blue Hens, winners of seven straight games, take on No. 3 seed and fifth ranked Johns Hopkins in the NCAA semifinals at M&T Bank Stadium at 12 noon.

In the other semifinal game, No. 1 seed and second-ranked Duke (16-2) will take on No. 4 seed and top -ranked Cornell (15-0) at 2:30 p.m.

The game, whose winner advances to the national title game Monday at 1 p.m., will be televised live on ESPN2 and broadcast live on University of Delaware student station WVUD 91.3 FM. Delaware is looking for its first national men’s lacrosse title and first Division I national title in any sport since the Blue Hen women’s lacrosse squad captured the 1983 NCAA Division I crown.

The No. 15 ranked Blue Hens (13-5), who are making their first Final Four appearance under 29th-year head coach Bob Shillinglaw in just their fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament, advanced to the semifinals thanks to a first round 14-8 upset win over defending national champion and No. 3 Virginia and a 10-6 victory over No. 13 UMBC in the quarterfinals last week. John Hopkins (11-4), which has won 10 national titles and is making its 27th appearance in the Final Four, has also won seven straight games, including NCAA Tournament wins of 11-10 over Notre Dame in overtime and 14-6 over Georgetown last Saturday.

Delaware and Johns Hopkins will meet for the first time since the 1984 season when the Blue Jays downed the Blue Hens 10-3 in the NCAA quarterfinals in Baltimore. Johns Hopkins has won all five meetings between the two schools, outscoring the Hens by an 84-34 margin.

"A lot of people are routing for us," said Shillinghaw. "We are probably the underdogs but our guys don't feel like we are. They can compete in this championship. They really want to show the world that we're worthy of being in the final four."

The Blue Hens, who entered the tournament unseeded, rank No. 4 in the nation in scoring offense with 12.0 goals per game and have scored in double figures in seven straight games. The Hens feature the nation’s top faceoff specialist in senior Alex Smith, who has led the nation in that category each of the last three seasons and has won 73.3 percent of his NCAA record 415 faceoffs this season while also leading the nation in groundballs with 9.39 per game. The 2007 Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year, he He holds six NCAA records for faceoffs and groundballs.

Senior Adam Zuder-Havens leads the Blue Hen in scoring with while 35 goals and 11 assists while Jordan Hall has contributed 26 goals and 11 assists and Dan Deckelbaum has recorded 26 goals and eight assists. Rob Smith leads the defense while goalkeeper Tommy Scherr has allowed just 7.80 goals per game while posting a .582 save percentage.

Johns Hopkins features one of the nations’ top defensive units as the Blue Jays allows just 7.93 goals per game, the 14th best mark in the nation. Offensively, All-American candidate Paul Rabil leads the team with 25 goals and 21 assists while Steven Boyle has added 22 goals and 13 assists and Jake Byrne has contributed 26 goals and six assists.

Goalkeeper Jesse Schwartzman allows 8.23 goals per game while posting a .562 save percentage while faceoff leader Stephen Peyser has won 55.6 percent of his draws this season.