University of Delaware Athletics
Blue Hens Welcome UNCW Saturday for CAA Quarterfinals
11/5/2015 10:03:00 PM | Men's Soccer
NEWARK, Del. – Ranked third in the postseason standings, Delaware seeks its second CAA Championship title and opens play in the 2015 Tournament his weekend by hosting sixth-seeded UNCW Saturday at 7 p.m. at Stuart & Suzanne Grant Stadium in quarterfinals action.
With a win, the Blue Hens (9-6-3, 5-2-1 CAA) would advance to face second-seeded Elon next Friday in semifinals action at Hofstra University.
The CAA Championship match is slated for 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, November 15 at Hofstra Soccer Stadium.
ADMISSION
Admission is free and open to the public for Saturday's men's soccer games held at Stuart & Suzanne Grant Stadium.
BROADCAST
Fans unable to make it to the game in person can watch Saturday's match versus UNCW online, for free, via Hens All-Access. Full rebroadcasts of the game will be available on Delaware's YouTube page within 24 hours of completion of the contest.
LIVE STATS
· Saturday vs. UNCW
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.
LAST TIME OUT
Dani Laguna had a career game in a Delaware uniform Saturday night as the Blue Hens defeated William & Mary, 3-1, at Martin Field to clinch the No. 3 seed in the CAA Tournament. Laguna, who has slowly returned to the pitch after missing four games from Oct. 10-20 with an injury, notched two goals, including the game-winner in the 77th minute. With the win, Delaware finishes the regular season with an overall record of 9-6-3 while going 5-2-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association. W&M posted the first goal of the game in the fourth minute, but the Hens rallied to score three unanswered tallies for the victory. Joe Dipre notched his third goal of the season in the 38th minute while Laguna scored back-to-back goals in the 77th and 84th minutes, respectively. Ryan Talbot and Marco Siverio added the assists on both of Laguna's goals while Thomas de Villardi registered his team-best seventh assist of the year on Dipre's goal. Todd Morton collected six saves in the first half while Blai Palmí took over in the second, posted three saves and earned his third win of the year.
HEN SCRATCHINGS
· Delaware will compete 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 6-3 (.667) all-time in the CAA Tournament.
· The Blue Hens are 5-0-1 over their last six contests. During that span, Delaware has outscored its opponents, 18-6.
· 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.
· Guillermo Delgado was named the CAA Player of the Week after notching a career-best five points on two goals and an assist to guide Delaware past James Madison, 4-0, in the home regular season finale. The win was the first for the Hens over JMU in Newark since 2009 and helped them earn home field advantage for Saturday's quarterfinals game.
· Delgado has now reached 80 career points on 35 goals and 10 assists in just three seasons. John McCloskey (1975-78) is second in school history with 82 career points (35g, 12a).
· Delgado's 35 goals are good to tie for second all-time with McCloskey. Mike Biggs (1968-70) is the career-leader with 47 scores.
· Joe Dipre has moved into 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 five of the last six games.
· Through 11 matches this season, Todd Morton is ranked 21st nationally with a 0.718 GAA and ninth with a save percentage of .846.
· For the third straight season, Ben Sampson has been selected as a CoSIDA Academic All-District 2 selection.
· Twelve Blue Hens have tallied at least one point on the year.
· Aidan Heany (Charlotte '92) is in his 15th season at the helm of the Seahawks. During his tenure at UNCW, Heany has amassed a record of 132-124-30 (.514).
ABOUT UNCW
The sixth-seeded Seahawks, who were previously ranked as high as No. 18 this season, are winless in six of their last seven games and are amidst a three-game losing streak to finish the regular season at 8-7-3 and 3-3-2 in the CAA. Colin Bonner and Ben Fisher are first and sixth in the CAA standings with 20 (7g, 6a) and 17 (6g, 5a) points, respectively. Sean Melvin has started 17 games in net for UNCW and has allowed 1.07 goals per game with a save percentage of .725.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Please contact Maggie Hayon | mhayon@udel.edu | O: 302-831-6389 | C: 920-912-6635
