Balanced Attack Leads Blue Hens Past Drexel, 15-13

Saturday, April 6

Philadelphia, PA

1:00 p.m.

University of Delaware

9-2, 2-0CAA

Drexel University

4-6, 0-2CAA

Delaware

Drexel

4/6/2019 8:02:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – "It's amazing what can be accomplished when no one cares who gets the credit." – Harry Truman

The University of Delaware men's lacrosse team put that saying on full display on Saturday in a balanced team effort en route to a thrilling 15-13 win over Drexel in a critical CAA matchup. Five different Blue Hens had multi-goal performances to help the Blue Hens pick up their fifth road win of the season, the highest in a single season by Delaware since 2010.

With a 9-2 overall record, the Blue Hens are off to their best start since 2006.

"We're really proud of the resiliency our guys showed today against a tough and really talented Drexel team on their home turf. We certainly know that we have a lot to improve upon, but we can't say enough about how these guys continue to battle and find ways to win games," head coach Ben DeLuca said.

Senior captain Joe Eisele led the way with a career-best five goals and one assist, while junior Charlie Kitchen added three goals and a career-high tying four assists. Kitchen has now scored in 28 straight games, which is the second-longest streak in the country and third-longest in school history. Bryce Reid, Tye Kurtz and Clay Miller all had two goals in the win.

Defensively, Matt DeLuca had 12 saves in the victory. He moved into ninth-place all-time in program history and now sits at 447 in his junior season. He has had double-digit saves in all 11 games this spring. Austin Haynes, Owen Grant, Jason Seiter and Ryan Shaw all had two caused turnovers to help a defensive effort that forced Drexel into 17 turnovers on the afternoon.

"We know that every single game in the CAA is going to be a battle for all 60 minutes and that's exactly what today was," Eisele said. "We can't be satisfied and we know that we have to get focus on getting better every time we take the field. I'm proud of the way we battled and I thought offensively we were able to share the ball and put each other in positions to capitalize."

The Blue Hens would grab momentum from the jump scoring the game's first three goals and taking a 3-0 lead after five minutes of action.

Drexel would score the next two, but like they did all day long the Blue Hens would answer with goals from Kitchen and Miller to push it to a 5-2 lead.

A three-goal spurt would give Delaware its biggest cushion of the day at 8-3. Drexel would answer, but a goal from Eisele in the final minute of the first half would send the Blue Hens into halftime with a 10-6 advantage.

The Dragons would get within two early in the second half, but once again, Delaware answered with back-to-back goals.

After Drexel made it a 12-10 game early in the fourth quarter, Eisele and Kurtz would take feeds from Kitchen and bury goals to help seal the 15-13 victory.

Up Next

Delaware returns home for the first time in over a month next Saturday when it hosts Hofstra at Delaware Stadium. Game time on LSN is set for 2 p.m.