University of Delaware Athletics
First Place Blue Hens Head to Hofstra for Key Midseason CAA Battle
4/8/2016 4:14:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
Delaware (4-7, 1-0 CAA) vs. Hofstra (6-4, 0-1 CAA)
📅 DATE: Saturday, April 9, 2016
🕕 TIME: 1 p.m.
📍 LOCATION: Shuart Stadium, Hempstead, N.Y.
WATCH 🎥
Live video available at www.gohofstra.com
LIVE STATS 📊
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ONLINE 
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STORY LINE
Delaware, coming off its conference-opening win since 2011, will be looking to continue that momentum Saturday as the Blue Hens head to longtime nemesis Hofstra for a key Colonial Athletic Association battle at Shuart Stadium. The Hens (4-7, 1-0 CAA) defeated then No. 19 UMass 9-7 in its league opener at Delaware Stadium last Saturday and will be looking to improve to 2-0 in league play for the first time since that same 2011 campaign when the Hens started 4-0 on the way to the league title and NCAA Tournament berth. Hofstra (6-4, 0-1 CAA) had a two-game win streak snapped last Saturday when the Pride fell to Fairfield 9-8 at home in its CAA opener.
LAST TIME OUT
The University of Delaware's biggest win of the season could not have come at a better time as the Hens scored the first four goals of the final quarter to break a tie and moved on to a 9-7 win over No. 19 ranked Massachusetts in the Colonial Athletic Association opener at Delaware Stadium on Apr. 2.
Blue Hen sophomore Dean DiSimone netted his second consecutive hat trick as he scored two of his three goals during the pivotal fourth quarter barrage that pushed the Delaware lead to 9-5 with 2:16 left to play.
UMass (4-5, 0-1 CAA), which had a two-game win streak snapped, scored twice in the final two minutes but the Blue Hens (4-7, 1-0 CAA) held on down the stretch and snapped a two-game losing streak of their own. Delaware, playing at home for the first time since Mar. 5, won for the first time since a 12-11 triumph over Binghamton on Mar. 12.
Delaware's win was its first over a Top 20 opponent since a 13-9 victory over then No. 8 Villanova during the 2012 season.
HEN SCRATCHINGS
• Delaware has gone 4-3 since opening the season with an 0-4 mark
• Dean DiSimone is this week's Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Week after scoring three goals in , the win over Massachusetts.
• DiSimone, who scored just two goals over the first nine games of the season, recorded his second straight hat trick vs. UMass after notching three goals and three assists in the 15-11 loss at Rutgers on Mar. 26. He becomes the first UD player since Grant Kaleikau in 2013 to score 10 points in a two-game stretch and the first to record back-to-back hat tricks since Dan Keane scored three or more goals in three straight games in 2014.
• Delaware ranks No. 11 in the NCAA in caused turnovers (7.82), No. 20 in groundballs per game (28.27), No. 22 in faceoff winning pct. (.518), and No. 25 in fewest turnovers (14.91)
• Individually, Sam Walsh ranks No. 17 in faceoffs (.537)
• Delaware freshman longstick midfielder Austin Haynes ranks No. 7 among all freshmen nationally in groundballs (3.7) and No. 3 among all freshmen in caused turnovers (1.2)
• Delaware senior co-captain and midfielder Steve DeLargy has scored a point in team-leading seven straight games
• Junior attack Paul Major, the team's leading goal-scorer, has notched three hat tricks this season, including a career-high five vs. Rutgers on Mar. 25
• Senior shortstick middle John O'Connor ranks No. 6 all-time at Delaware in career caused turnovers with 38 (three shy of No. 5)
• Redshirt freshman Andrew Romagnoli, a first-year transfer from Marquette, netted six goals in a 14-6 win over VMI on Mar. 1. His six goals tied the UD single game freshman record of six set by Tom Ervin vs. Hofstra in 1986
• Delaware GK Parker Ferrigan scored a goal in the 12-11 win over Binghamton on Mar. 12. He became the first UD goalkeeper to score since Jamie Blalock tallied a goal vs. Penn State in 1993
DELAWARE LEADERS
Scoring: Paul Major (18 goals-8 assists); Andrew Romagnoli (15-6); Steve DeLargy (11-5); Dean DiSimone (8-4); Anthony Disanzo (7-3); Joe Eisele (7-3)
Goalkeeper: Parker Ferrigan (11 games, 10 starts, 105 goals, 10.79 GAA, 87 saves, .453 pct., 4-6 W-L)
Faceoffs: Sam Walsh (79 of 147, .537); Tyler Mardian (44 of 83, .530)
Groundballs: Austin Haynes - 38; John O'Connor - 28
Caused Turnovers: Austin Haynes - 12; John O'Connor - 12
SERIES INFORMATION
Hofstra leads 28-12 since 1951...Hofstra has won five straight, including wins of 11-9 and 9-7 (CAA semifinals) in 2014 and a 9-5 victory at Delaware Stadium last year...Delaware's last win was a 10-9 victory in the CAA semifinals in 2011 at Hofstra...this year's game will mark the second straight year that neither team is earning votes in the USILA Top 20 poll after at least one team was earning votes each year since 2001.
• Seth Tierney (Johns Hopkins '91) is 84-59 in his 10th year at Hofstra.
HOFSTRA NOTES
• Hofstra was picked No. 2 in the CAA Coaches Preseason Poll with M Sam Llinares named Preseason Player of the Year
• Among the Pride wins this season are victories over No. 5 North Carolina (10-5), #rv Princeton (11-10 in overtime), and No. 19 Ohio State (8-5)
• Hofstra ranks among the national Top 20 leaders in virtually every statistical team category. The Pride rank No. 1 in fewest turnovers (10.8), No. 8 in groundballs (31.2), No. 12 in scoring defense (8.9), No. 14 in man-down defense (.694), No. 16 in scoring offense (10.2), and No. 18 in faceoff winning pct. (.524)
• Individually, GK Jack Concannon ranks No. 5 in save percentage (577) and No. 12 in goals against average (9.0), Kris Clarke ranks No. 10 in groundballs (6.56), and No. 12 in faceoff winning pct. (.566)
HOFSTRA LEADERS
Scoring: Josh Byrne (22-9); Sam Llinares (21-7); Brian von Bargen (21-5); Kory Hendrickson (19-6); Trevor Kupecky (7-5)
Goalkeeper: Jack Concannon (10 games, 10 starts, 88 goals, 9.00 GAA, 120 saves, .577 pct.,6-4 W-L)
Faceoffs: Kris Clarke (103 of 182, .566); Michael Diener (7 of 21, .333)
Groundballs: Kris Clarke - 59; Finn Sullivan - 32
Caused Turnovers: Finn Sullivan - 12; Sam Llinares - 4; Ian Blohm - 4
