Men's Lacrosse Makes History in 9-6 Win over UMass

Friday, April 30

Newark, DE

5:00 PM

University of Delaware

10-2, 7-1CAA

UMass

4-5, 4-4CAA

UMASS

DELAWARE

Photo by: Mark Campbell

4/30/2021 8:19:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score Photo Gallery

NEWARK, Del. – History was made on Friday night as the No. 12 Delaware men's lacrosse team captured a 9-6 CAA victory over UMass at Delaware Stadium.

The Blue Hens (10-2, 7-1 CAA) not only became the outright CAA regular season champs for the first time in program history, but they also set the CAA record for the most conference wins in a single season with seven.

Delaware additionally secured it's 10th win of the 2021 campaign, marking the second time in head coach Ben DeLuca's tenure that the program recorded double-digit victories.

The Blue Hens' defense played a pivotal role in the win, limiting the Minutemen (4-5, 4-4 CAA) to just six goals on the night and holding them scoreless for the final 39:40 of action. Matt Kilkeary had a standout performance for Delaware after recording 13 saves in between the pipes with eight coming in the second half.

Eight different Blue Hens combined to cause 11 UMass turnovers, tying a season-best mark. Owen Grant, Joe Speers and Tate Wasson each tallied a pair.

On the offensive end, five Delaware players were in the scoring column. Mike Robinson paced the attack with a game-high three goals, while Cam Acchione and Mark Bieda each put in two. Charlie Kitchen and Matt Acchione were responsible for the other two Delaware goals with Tye Kurtz handing out two helpers.

The Blue Hens jumped out to an early 2-0 advantage and it was Robinson delivering back-to-back goals in the span of a minute. UMass was quick to respond and countered with four unanswered goals to cap the opening quarter with a 4-2 lead.

Delaware evened the score less than three minutes into the second quarter after Robinson and Cam Acchione each found the back of the net. However, the Minutemen went back up by two following a pair of goals before both sides went scoreless for over eight minutes.

The drought came to an end for the Blue Hens once Bieda bounced a pass to Matt Acchione to make it a one-goal game just before the first half came to an end.

With Kilkeary and the Delaware defense putting the clamps on the UMass attack, the Blue Hens went to work offensively in the second half.

Bieda tallied the game-tying score with 11:01 left in the third quarter before Kitchen gave Delaware the lead less than a minute later. Bieda went on to score one more time in the quarter to push the Blue Hens' advantage to two, 8-6, heading into the final 15 minutes of play.

In the fourth, Kilkeary delivered in crunch time and made five saves while the Blue Hens tacked on one final goal before walking off the field victorious.

UP NEXT
Delaware has secured the top seed in the CAA Tournament that will take place next week in Hempstead, N.Y. The semifinal round is scheduled for Thursday with the times and matchups still to be determined.