University of Delaware Athletics
Delaware Opens CAA Play Saturday vs. Hofstra for Armed Forces Day
3/27/2015 4:56:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
Delaware (4-6, 0-0 CAA) vs. Hofstra (3-5, 0-1 CAA)
Armed Forces Day
Date: Saturday, March 28, 2015
Time: 1 p.m.
Location: Tubby Raymond Field at Delaware Stadium
Video: www.bluehens.com
Live Stats: www.bluehens.com
Twitter Updates: twitter.com/udbluehens
All-Time Series: Hofstra leads 27-12 since 1951...Hofstra has won four straight, including wins of 11-9 and 9-7 (CAA semifinals) last year...Delaware's last win was a 10-9 victory in the CAA semifinals in 2011...today's game will mark the first time since 2001 that neither team was earning votes in the USILA Top 20 poll.
Hofstra: Seth Tierney (Johns Hopkins '91), 9th year at Hofstra (76-51)
STATISTICS
• Complete Delaware statistics
• Complete Hofstra statistics
STORYLINES
• A new season begins Saturday for Delaware as the Blue Hens (4-6), looking to snap a two-game losing streak, take on longtime foe Hofstra in their Colonial Athletic Association opener as part of Armed Forces Day at Delaware Stadium.
• The Hens are coming off a 14-6 setback at home to Saint Joseph's last Saturday while the Pride (3-5, 0-1 CAA) fell to CAA foe UMass last Saturday.
• As part of Armed Forces Day, military vehicles were on display in front of Delaware Stadium pre-game, Delaware ROTC will present the colors as part of the National Anthem, a special Military Appreciation Ceremony and the singing of God Bless America will take place at halftime, and Staff Sergeant Warner Ball, a former UD men's lacrosse player and 2007 Delaware graduate, will serve as Honorary Captain. Warner was a United States Army Special Forces Green Beret in 2009-2014, was deployed to Afghanistan twice, and received the Bronze Star. See Warner's full biography below.
• CAA Standings: Massachusetts (1-0 CAA/3-5 Overall); Towson (0-0/6-3); Fairfield (0-0/5-4); Delaware (0-0/4-6); Drexel (0-0/4-5); Hofstra (3-5/0-1).
• NCAA I Men's Games Saturday: Towson at UMass (12); Boston U. at Navy (12); Manhattan at Detroit (12); Furman at High Point (12); Sacred Heart at Mt. St. Mary's (12); Syracuse at Notre Dame (12); Army at Bucknell (1); Hartford at Binghamton (1); Marquette at Villanova (1); Cornell at Dartmouth (1); Virginia at Richmond (1); Johns Hopkins at Rutgers (2); Loyola at Colgate (2:30); Saint Joseph's at Bryant (3); Fairfield at Drexel (3); Lehigh at Holy Cross (3); Albany at UMass Lowell (3); Yale at Penn (3); Denver at Georgetown (5).
Bob Shillinglaw• Delaware's Will Hirschmann is out for the year with an injury but Matt Olbrich is expected to return today after missing the last two games.
• Delaware senior D Brandon Worrall ranks No. 3 all-time at UD with 46 career caused turnovers (No. 2 is 48 by Dom Sebastiani in 2009-13).
• Delaware ranks No. 2 in the CAA in saves per game (10.2), No. 2 (27th in NCAA) in shot pct. (.295), and No. 4 (25th) in man-down defense (.667). Individually, GK Brett Anton is No. 4 (31st) in GAA (10.07) and Beau Jones is No. 2 (35th) in shot pct. (.424).
• Hofstra ranks No. 1 in the CAA (8th in NCAA) in faceoff win pct. (.631), No. 1 (13th) in scoring margin (+3.0), No. 2 (2nd) in fewest turnovers (11.5 pg), and No. 3 (12th) in scoring defense (8.38). Individually, Sam Llinares is No. 1 in the CAA in goals (13th/3.0), assists (10th/2.5), and points (5th/5.50), Ryan Rielly is No. 1 in caused turnovers (17th/1.63), Kris Clarke is No. 1 in faceoff pct. (8th/.637) and No. 2 in groundballs (14th/7.0), Chris Selva is No. 3 in GAA (16th/8.65), and Mike Malave is No. 1 in man-up goals (2nd/8).
• Hofstra made four straight NCAA Tournament appearances in 2008-11 and captured the CAA regular season title last spring.
• Hofstra assistant coach J.P. Brazel served as Delaware's goalkeepers coach in 2011 when the Hens won the CAA title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
• Hofstra's five losses this season have all been by two goals or less (11-10 vs. Marquette; 14-12 vs. Princeton; 13-11 vs. Georgetown; 9-8 vs. Ohio State; 9-7 vs. UMass). Among Hofstra's wins this year was a rare 18-0 shutout over Manhattan.
• Delaware will close out its home schedule next Saturday when the Hens host Towson at 1 p.m.
HONORARY CAPTAIN:
United States Army Special Forces Green Beret
2009-2014
Warner Ball enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2009 after he graduated from the University of Delaware with a degree in political science. He played on the lacrosse team for three seasons (at left) under head coach Bob Shillinglaw beginning in 2004.
He began his military career with basic training at Ft. Benning, Ga. and after six months attended Airborne Jump School to learn how to parachute from a plane. After Ft. Benning, he began his 
Special Forces training at Ft. Bragg, N.C. He was selected to attend Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS) or "Selection" in the summer of 2009.
"It was the hardest three weeks of my life," said Ball. "Of the 357 men who tried out, only 109 made it through and were selected."
Ball then began the Special Forces Qualification Course (Q Course) where a soldier learns how to become a Green Beret. Soldiers learn how to shoot, move, and communicate with other soldiers in hopes of making it through the two-year pipeline and earn Green Beret honors at graduation.
"While at the Q Course, I had to go through some of the toughest training in my life," said Ball. "I attended an intense six-month language school where I learned Urdu, which is spoken in Pakistan. I learned how to survive out in the woods and also learned how to be interrogated.
He then attended Military Occupational Speciality (MOS) training where he learned radio/satellite communications for six months. He then participated in Robin Sage, the culmination exercise all Green Beret students must endure. When completed Robin Sage, he was awarded his Green Beret.
The Green Berets were created in the early 1960s at the request of President John Fl. Kennedy. He saw the need for the creation of an elite unconventional group of soldiers that could go anywhere in the world, train up an indigenous force, and then lead those local soldiers in combat against a common enemy. The Green Berets have fought in every campaign and conflict since their creation and can be found today in over 65 countries, conducting Foreign Internal Defense and joint training missions.
After graduation, Ball was assigned to Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Ft. Bragg, N.C. and was placed on Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA) 3124.
"My team was one of the busiest and most deployed teams in all of Special Forces," he said. "Within three months of graduation, we were deployed to Afghanistan. My first deployment was amazing. We spent the first two months around the Herat area of Afghanistan, out west. We worked with the Afghan Commandos as well as the U.S. Marine Special Operations group. We got into quite a few gun fights during those first few months and being in my first war-time combat was absolutely scary, but incredibly exciting. The rush and chaos that occurs once that first bullet gets fired is like nothing you can ever prepare yourself for. After being in country for four months, we were moved to a location in Badghis Province to conduct Village Stability Operations (VSO). We literally packed all our equipment up on large trucks and moved into a valley no Americans had ever been to before. We built our own little base out from an old, abandoned Taliban hospital. We spent the remaining five months in that valley where we linked up with the locals, trained them, and led them on countless combat operations."
After returning home from his first deployment, Ball quickly learned that he would be sent back over to Afghanistan. During that brief time home, he attended High Altitude Low Opening (HALO) School in Yuma, Ariz. Different than static line parachuting, this training included learing how to "free fall" from a plane at over 20,000 feet, then pulling his own rip cord and landing in a specific area.
"I had around 50 jumps in my Special Forces career," said Ball. "There is nothing like the feeling of jumping out the back of a plane at 20,000 feet and free falling for 45 seconds towards the Earth. I still dream about it at night.
"My team deployed again to Afghanistan in 2012 and this time we knew we were going to be very busy fighting the enemy. We were sent to Wardak Province, one of the deadliest areas in all of Afghanistan. It seemed like every time we left our base we were getting into a gun fight. It was during this trip that my boss was shot and nearly killed by an enemy sniper. We luckily saved his life and he was awarded the Silver Star last month. I was awarded the Bronze Star for my actions in combat during that trip and I am very proud of what we accomplished as a team. We came home beat up and exhausted, but we all made it out alive."
Ball's contract with the Army was finished in 2014, and he moved back home to Washington, D.C. to be with my wife.
"I miss being in Special Forces, but deploying back-to-back and enduring so much combat, it is nice not having someone shoot at you or try to blow you up," he said. "I am incredibly proud of the men I served and fought with overseas. They are my brothers for life. It is an honor and privilege to be a Green Beret and I am truly lucky I was able to serve this great nation twice in war.
