Photos Courtesy of Mark Campbell (Top - Curtis Dickson; Middle - Cam Howard; Bottom - Bob Shillinglaw with 2007 NCAA trophy from pre-game ceremony).

NEWARK, DE -- University of Delaware sophomore attackman Curtis Dickson (top right) had a hand in eight goals, scoring five times and dishing out three assists, as the No. 14 ranked Blue Hens jumped out to a 7-0 lead and never looked back in posting a 12-6 non-league men’s lacrosse victory over Marist Saturday afternoon at chilly Rullo Stadium.

The Blue Hens (3-0), off to a 3-0 start for the third straight season, helped head coach Bob Shillinglaw (bottom right) celebrate his 500th career coaching appearance with the victory.

Shillinglaw, now in his 30th season at Delaware and his 33rd overall, improved to 267-233 all-time and now ranks No. 4 on the active NCAA Division I coaching win list. He joins Jack Emmer, who coached 510 games at Cortland State, Washington & Lee, and Army from 1970-2005, as the only coaches in NCAA lacrosse history to coach 500 games.

Dickson, who was coming off a career-high five-goal effort in a 15-7 win over UMBC last Saturday, continued his hot streak as he tallied four times in the opening half to help the Blue Hens jump out to a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter and to a 9-3 advantage at the break. Dickson, who has now scored at least one goal in 12 straight games, became the first player at Delaware to score five or more goals in consecutive games since Anthony DiMarzo scored five goals in each of the first two games of the 1995 season vs. Drexel and Yale.

Senior Cam Howard (middle right) added two goals and an assist, scoring his 150th career point in the process, and freshman Anthony Ruiz scored twice and won 11 of 18 faceoffs to lead the Blue Hens, who outshot Marist 45-28, held a 45-27 margin in groundballs, and took advantage of 35 turnovers by the Red Foxes. UD senior goalkeeper Tommy Scherr posted 10 saves, surpassing the 400-mark for his career.

Marist (0-1), playing its season opener and coming off consecutive 6-9 seasons, battled tough throughout the second half and pulled to within four goals at 10-6 early in the fourth quarter before the Hens pulled away. Corey Zindel tallied four goals and also dished out an assist while Pete O’Hara handed out three assists and goalkeeper Ryan Penner stopped 17 shots. Marist could only capitalize on 1 of 10 extra man opportunities.

Delaware jumped out to a 4-0 lead after one stanza as Dickson scored twice in the final two minutes of the period, and extended the lead to 7-0 as Howard, Beau Davis, and Ruiz each scored extra man goals in a span of 1:22 early in the second period while Marist faceoff specialist Dan Needle served a three-minute illegal stick penalty.

Marist finally got on the board on a goal by Paul Santavicca with 9:53 left in the second quarter and pulled to within 7-2 just 18 seconds later on a goal by Zindel, but Dickson scored twice more for Delaware in the final 8:25 to send the Hens up 9-3 heading into halftime.

The Red Foxes held Delaware scoreless for a span of 15 minutes in the second half to get back in striking distance. Zindel fed Zachary Walsh for a goal with 11:02 left to play and followed with a goal of his own less than a minute later to cut the UD lead to 10-6 at the 10:54 mark. But a man-up goal by Vincent Giordano with 9:44 remaining and a Howard to Dickson tally with 6:57 left gave the Hens some breathing room.

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