University of Delaware Athletics
Delaware Hosts Central Arkansas and Fairfield for Season-Opening Weekend
8/27/2015 4:19:00 PM | Men's Soccer
NEWARK, Del. – The University of Delaware men's soccer team looks to continue its winning ways as the Blue Hens open the 2015 campaign this weekend by hosting Central Arkansas and Fairfield at Stuart & Suzanne Grant Stadium.
UD welcomes UCA Friday for the season lid-lifter with a 7 p.m. start before finishing weekend play at home with a 1 p.m. contest Sunday against the Stags.
Last season Delaware rose as high as No. 11 in the national rankings, tied for second in school history with 13 victories and hosted the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament after tying for first place in the league standings.
The Blue Hens were predicted to finish atop the league in 2015 and will be led by reigning CAA Player of the Year and All-American Guillermo Delgado (Tres Cantos, Spain/Jose Luis Sampedro). Already this season Delgado, who ranked amongst the nation's leaders last season with 12 goals, has been named to the MAC Hermann Award Watch List and Top Drawer Soccer Preseason Best XI team.
BROADCAST
Friday's contest against Central Arkansas will be broadcast live, for free, via Hens All-Access on BlueHens.com.
LIVE STATS
Friday vs. Central Arkansas
Sunday vs. Fairfield
ONLINE
Follow Delaware men's soccer online at facebook.com/DelawareMensSoccer and on Twitter at @DelawareMSOC.
HEN SCRATCHINGS
· Guillermo Delgado was joined on the All-CAA Preseason Team by senior Joe Dipre.
· Guillermo Delgado, Thibault Philippe and Ben Sampson are the 2015 team captains.
· The Blue Hens return nine letterwinners, including seven starters, from last year's squad and add 10 newcomers to the mix.
· Delaware welcomes five transfer student-athletes for the 2015 slate.
· This season is the 90th overall in program history. In the previous 89 seasons, UD has compiled a record of 421-647-103 (.360) with three 10-plus-win seasons in the last four years.
· UD features a total of eight international players on the roster.
· Guillermo Delgado is currently fourth all-time in program history with 61 points on 27 goals (t-third) and seven assists.
· Joe Dipre is tied for 10th in the record books with 10 career assists.
· The Blue Hens ranked seventh nationally in 2014 with 41 goals and eighth with 2.05 goals per game. Additionally, Delaware was 15th with 5.6 points per contest.
SERIES INFORMATION
· The Blue Hens have never faced Central Arkansas or Fairfield in men's soccer program history.
· Central Arkansas is led by Ross Duncan (Oregon State '04), who is in his sixth season with the program and fourth as head coach. Duncan holds an overall mark of 15-33-4 during his tenure.
· A mainstay on the pitch for Fairfield, Carl Rees (Hartwick '88) enters his 19th season as head coach. The Stags have posted a mark of 179-114-48 (.525) all-time under Rees.
ABOUT CENTRAL ARKANSAS
UCA brings back seven starters from last season's 3-13-1 (0-5-1 MVC) squad that looks to return to the conference tournament for the first time since 2012. The Bears return seven players that scored at least one goal last season and will be led by Wes Carson (2g), Pepe San Roman (2g, 1a) and William Woody (1g, 2a). Goalie Harrison Veith, a member of the league's all-freshman team in 2014, also returns to the net for UCA after tallying 58 saves with 1.83 GAA last season.
ABOUT FAIRFIELD
Fairfield posted an 8-5-7 overall record a year ago and advanced to the MAAC Tournament Championship game before falling to Monmouth in overtime. The Stags were selected to finish fifth in the MAAC preseason coaches poll while sophomore Angus Hastings earned a spot on the All-MAAC preseason team. Fairfield returns the majority of its starters from a year ago, including Hastings, who helped the Stags finish 2014 as one of the nation's top defensive units. The squad completed the year as the nation's leader in shutout percentage (0.65) by posting a nation-high 13 shutouts. Goalie Matt Turner is at the heart of the team's efforts, posting the top save percentage (.886) in Division I play while his 0.49 goals against average was third nationally. Up front, Fairfield boasts the return of its leading scorer from 2014 in Ben Wignall, who tallied four goals. The Stags open the season Friday at UMBC.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Please contact Maggie Hayon | mhayon@udel.edu | O: 302-831-6389 | C: 920-912-6635
