Kurtz, Blue Hens Roll To 15-7 Win Over Fairfield in CAA Opener

Saturday, March 30

Fairfield, CT

1:00 p.m.

University of Delaware

8-2, 1-0CAA

Fairfield University

5-5, 0-1CAA

Delaware

Fairfield

Photo by: John Baker

Kurtz, Blue Hens Roll To 15-7 Win Over Fairfield in CAA Opener

3/30/2019 5:00:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Tye Kurtz, welcome to the CAA. CAA, welcome Tye Kurtz.

The Puslinch, Ontario native made quite a first impression in his first conference game, unleashing a freshman school record for goals and points to help the University of Delaware men's lacrosse team to an impressive 15-7 road victory over Fairfield. It was the CAA opener for both squads.

"We knew this was going to be a tough game to being conference play and we had a focused effort right from the opening whistle. I thought our guys competed and fought hard for each other for the entire 60 minutes," head coach Ben DeLuca said. "We are pleased with the win, but we all know that we still have plenty to work on and improve as we move forward."

Kurtz had a historic day with seven goals and three assists on the afternoon. It set a new school record for goals in a game by a freshman and broke Kurtz's only freshman record of points in a game that he set a few weeks ago against Saint Joe's. The marks are the highest by any Blue Hen since Curtis Dickson scored eight and had 10 points against Albany in 2010. On top of the offense, Kurtz added five ground balls on the day.

Junior Charlie Kitchen extended his goal scoring streak to 27 straight games and finished with three goals and two assists, while both Joe Eisele and Bryce Reid added two goals and one assist on the afternoon.

"Unselfish play on offense led to great scoring opportunities and we were able to generate some momentum early. I thought Tye was very opportunistic and did a great job with his ground ball play today," DeLuca added.

Defensively, Delaware held its seventh opponent to single digits in goals, while forcing 13 turnovers from the Stags. The most impressive stat of the day is the Blue Hens effort on the ground, picking up 43 ground balls. It's the second highest single-game total in the past six years for Delaware.

Junior Matt DeLuca reached double-digits in saves for the 10^thstraight game this year with 11 on the day. He now has 435 for his career, just three away from moving into ninth all-time in program history.

"Seniors Joe Eisele, Thomas Aloe and Alex Brunner have really raised the level of their play and their leadership was very apparent on the field today. I thought Matt was solid in net and anchored a solid team effort on the defensive end," Coach DeLuca added.

Like a typical conference game, the first five minutes saw the two teams trade goals back-and-forth. A goal by Reid sparked a four-goal spurt that ignited the Blue Hens offense to eight first-half goals and a 8-3 lead at the break.

Kurtz would find the net twice in the first five minutes of the second half to push the lead to 10-3. Fairfield would get one back, but Delaware responded with four straight goals from four different Blue Hens to extend its cushion to 14-5 entering the fourth.

The Stags would get two in the fourth quarter, but DeLuca would have six of his 11 saves in the final 15 minutes to secure the 15-7 road victory.

Up Next

Delaware is on the road yet again next Saturday for another tough test against the Dragons of Drexel University. Game time in Philadelphia is set for 1 p.m.