The University of Delaware's stay at the NCAA men's soccer championship tournament might have been short, but the Blue Hens' 2016 season was certainly sweet.

UD, making its third trip to the national tournament in the last six seasons, battled the host No. 22 Providence throughout Thursday night's first round game at Anderson Stadium, but two momentary defensive lapses made the difference as the Blue Hens dropped the 2-0 decision to end yet another successful season.

Providence (13-5), a 2014 NCAA Final Four team, won for the ninth time in the last 10 games as Brendan Reardon scored a first half goal and Julian Gressel added some insurance with a second half tally for the Friars, who move on to face No. 1 ranked Maryland Sunday at 5 p.m. in the second round at College Park, Maryland.

The Hens (12-8-1), who captured the Colonial Athletic Association tournament title last week, finished with their fourth straight 10-win season for head coach Ian Hennessy.

"I thought we left it all on the field tonight," said Hennessy. "That's life, it's about moments. That first moment (the first goal by Providence), that calamitous first moment that everyone wants back, does change the course of games. I thought we were very good in the second half, chased them down, had good possessions, but lacked the quality plays that we needed to get back into the game.”

UD dominated the action at times but could never find the back of the net, although an early shot by Jaime Martinez that could have tied the game bounced off the edge of the post. The Hens outshot Providence by an 18-13 margin – UD’s fifth highest total of the season – and also held a 6-5 advantage in corner kicks.

Blue Hen goalkeeper Todd Morton finished the game with five saves while Providence netminder Collin Miller earned the win with four saves.

The Friars got all the offense they would need just seven minutes into the game when UD back John Schroeder and Morton miscommunicated on a pass back to the 18-yard line. The ball came loose between the two Blue Hens and Providence midfielder Reardon was there to grab the ball and score easily into the open net.

Providence held that 1-0 lead into halftime and added some insurance with 19:39 left to play when Gressel got loose behind the UD defense after a pass from Alex Dacosta and scored on a one-on-one showdown with Morton for his 12th goal of the season.

Despite the setback, Hennessy was quick to look fondly back on what was the fourth straight 10-win season by the Blue Hens.

“Told the kids that they shouldn’t leave here with their heads down,” said Henessy, who closed out his 11th season at the helm. “It’s been a great season for us and the University of Delaware. We had some remarkable individual performances. Overall it’s been a very good season and they have a lot to be proud off and should hold their heads up high.”

UD senior defender and co-captain Ben Sampson, a likely three-time CoSIDA Academic All-American who was playing in his UD record 84th career game, was quick to see the big picture as well.

“It was great to win the CAA, which is always a big goal for us,” said Sampson. “To finally win that, everything else is a bonus. Obviously we wanted to come in here and win and that’s what we tried to do. We pressured them at times and we created some chances, unfortunately they didn’t bounce our way. We had that mistake early on the first half and that put us on the wrong foot, but that’s soccer. Sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way. I like the way our guys responded and showed a lot of heart. Providence is a good team, credit to them for holding strong.”

Hen Scratchings

• UD three-time and likely four-time All-American and two-time CAA player of the year Guillermo Delgado was held scoreless despite a team-high four shots. He finished his career as UD’s all-time leader with 49 goals, 19 assists, 117 points, and 282 shots.

• UD was making its fifth NCAA tournament appearance (1968, 1970, 2011, 2013, and 2016).

• UD did not make a substitution until midway through the second half.

• The game marked the first-ever meeting between UD and Providence in soccer.

For more on UD Athletics, see BlueHens.com.