University of Delaware Athletics
Delaware Faces No. r/v Elon in CAA Men's Soccer Semifinals Friday
11/11/2015 4:51:00 PM | Men's Soccer
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – With a win last Saturday over UNCW, the third-seeded Blue Hens (10-6-3) advanced to the next round of the CAA Tournament and will next face second-seeded Elon at 4:30 p.m. Friday in semifinals action at Hofstra Soccer Stadium.
The host and top-seeded Pride will then take on fifth-seeded James Madison in the second semifinal game of the day at 7 p.m.
The winners of the two Friday games will match up in the CAA Championship final on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. in a game televised by the American Sports Network.
ADMISSION
General admission tickets for the entire weekend are available through HofstraTickets.com, by calling (516) HOF-TIXX or visiting the Hofstra Athletics Box Office in the Mack Sports Complex.
BROADCAST
Free live video streaming of Friday's game will be available via Pride Productions and CAA.tv.
LIVE STATS
· Friday vs. Elon
ONLINE
Follow Delaware men's soccer online at facebook.com/DelawareMensSoccer and on Twitter at @DelawareMSOC. Additional postseason coverage will be available by using the official CAA Championships hashtag, #CAAChamps on both Instagram and Twitter.
Thanks to two goals from All-American Guillermo Delgado, two assists from Thomas de Villardi, and the first career goal from Soren Frost, the No. 3 seed Blue Hens (10-6-3) extended their unbeaten string to seven games with a 3-1 victory over No. 6 seed UNCW Saturday evening in the CAA quarterfinals at Stuart & Suzanne Grant Stadium. Delgado scored his first goal from eight yards out off assists from Nick DiRienzo and de Villardi but UNCW tied the game on a goal by Brayden Smith with 9:01 left in the opening half to send the game into halftime tied 1-1. The second half belonged to the Hens as Delaware took the lead for good at 2-1 when Frost scored his first career goal from four yards out after a scramble in front of the net off a corner kick just 11 minutes into the stanza. Ben Sampson and de Villardi were responsible for the assists. Delaware then put the game away with 19:12 remaining when Delgado finished a shot from 12 yards out, knocking the ball off UNCW goalkeeper Todd Melvin and into the far right corner of the net.
HEN SCRATCHINGS
· Delaware has competed in the CAA Tournament for the third consecutive year and fifth time in six seasons.
· Since 2011, UD has earned two berths to the NCAA Tournament with a CAA Tournament Championship in 2011, CAA Regular Season title in 2014 and two CAA Tournament Finals appearances.
· Delaware is 7-3 (.700) all-time in the CAA Tournament.
· The Blue Hens are 6-0-1 over their last seven contests. During that span, Delaware has outscored its opponents, 21-7.
· UD won at least five CAA regular season games for the fourth time since joining the league in 2002.
· The Hens have posted three straight winning seasons for the first time since 1982.
· Delaware has now reached the double-figure win mark for the third straight year and for the fourth time in the last five seasons.
· With two goals against UNCW, Guillermo Delgado moved into second place in program history with 84 career points and 37 goals in just three seasons. Mike Biggs (1968-70) is the career leader with 99 points on 47 goals and five assists.
· Joe Dipre is fourth place in the career record books with 15 assists. John Petito (1978-82) and current Delaware assistant coach Roberto Giménez (2011-13) are tied for second all-time with 16 career assists.
· Thomas de Villardi has registered at least one assist in six of the last seven games. He is ranked 15th in the NCAA Division I standings with nine total assists this season.
· De Villardi's nine assists are good to tie for second in Delaware single season history alongside Bob Young (1985).
· Through 12 matches this season, Todd Morton is ranked 27th nationally with a 0.741 GAA and ninth with a save percentage of .839.
· For the third straight season, Ben Sampson has been selected as a CoSIDA Academic All-District 2 selection.
· Soren Frost notched his first career goal against UNCW.
· Thirteen Blue Hens have tallied at least one point on the year.
Chibsah Faisal '11 (director of operations) have joined the Hens for the 2015 season.
· Chris Little (UNC Pembroke '00) is in his second year with the Phoenix and has posted a career mark of 22-11-4 (.649).
ABOUT NO. R/V ELON
The Phoenix ended regular season play last Wednesday with a 2-0 non-conference loss to Radford. It was just the second time this year that Elon (13-5) had been shutout and it was the first they suffered a multi-goal shutout. The Phoenix have four players with double digit points on the year and are led by James Brace, who has posted five goals and five assists for 15 points. Eduardo Alvarez (5g, 2a) and Jaiden Fortune (4g, 4a) each have collected 12 points while Cooper Vandermaas-Peeler has registered 11 points on four goals and three assists. Matthew Jegier has played in all 1647:57 minutes for Elon and has allowed 0.98 goals per game with 52 saves at a clip of .743.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Please contact Maggie Hayon | mhayon@udel.edu | O: 302-831-6389 | C: 920-912-6635
