The 11-5 Fightin' Blue Hens will carry a five-game winning streak into the tournament, where they will travel to the University of Virginia for a first round game to be played at 5 p.m., Sunday, May 13, at Klockner Stadium. The game will be televised live on ESPNU.
In other first round NCAA tournament games, top seed Duke University (14-2) will host Providence College (7-9), Johns Hopkins University (9-4) will host the University of Notre Dame (11-3), Cornell University (13-0) will host Towson (9-6), the University at Albany (14-2) will host Loyola College of Maryland, Georgetown Universit (11-2) will host Princeton University (10-3), the University of Maryland (10-5) will host the University of Maryland Baltimore County (10-5), and the University of North Carolina (9-5) will host the U.S. Naval Academy (11-3).
The winner of the UD-Virginia game will take on the winner of the Maryland-UMBC contest in the quarterfinals to be played at Navy on May 19 or May 20. Princeton is the other quarterfinal site. The NCAA Final Four will be held May 26-28 in Baltimore.
Virginia, which was ranked third in last week's U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association poll with a record of 12-3, captured the NCAA championship in 2006.
“No question, we will be ready to play,” UD Head Coach Bob Shillinglaw, who also led the Hens to NCAA tournament appearances in 1984, 1999 and 2005, said. “There won't be any case of nerves from any of our guys. We are the healthiest we've been all season and really have built momentum after winning two CAA games this past week. This is the best we've been all year and we really like the direction we are headed. Virginia is an outstanding team. They are young in some spots but have one of the most explosive attack units in the nation.”
In fact, the game will feature two of the highest scoring offensive units in the country, with the Hens averaging 12.2 goals per game and Virginia averaging 11.6.
UD features a balanced attack led by Adam Zuder-Havens (32 goals, 9 assists), senior midfielders Jordan Hall (21 goals, 10 assists) and Dan Deckelbaum (22 goals, 7 assists), and three-time NCAA face-off leader Alex Smith (74.1 percent). Senior Rob Smith, a transfer from Georgetown, leads the defensive unit and junior goalkeeper Tommy Scherr (7.91 goals against average, .576 save percentage) is coming off two outstanding efforts in the CAA tournament.
“Virginia is obviously a very good team so we have our work cut out for us,” Smith said. “We are on a roll over the last five games and everyone is playing well. It's been a real team effort and we have proven we are an NCAA playoff team. The biggest things we need to do is limit our turnovers, but we feel like we can match up with them.”
The victory over Towson, played before 1,075 fans at Johnny Unitas Stadium, saw the Hens play a strong second half. UD trailed 6-4 at the break but outscored Towson 4-0 in the third quarter to pull away for the win.
Scherr matched a season high with 17 saves. Zuder-Havens and Hall had three goals and one assist each, while Smith won 14 of 21 face-offs, scooped up 10 ground balls and was named the CAA tournament's outstanding player.
Also for the Hens, J.J. Moran had two goals and Curtis Dickson and Vincent Giordano had one goal each. Dan Deckelbaum had an assist.
“This is such an awesome feeling,” Hall said following the victory over Towson. “It's nice to be part of the celebration instead of watching it.”
“I'm so excited for this team, our lacrosse program, and the University of Delaware,” Shillinglaw said. “Our goals this season were to win the CAA title and advance to the NCAA tournament and for us to accomplish both those goals is incredible. We are excited to represent Delaware at the NCAA tournament and our seniors now have the chance to go and compete for the second time in their career. We have had a lot of injuries this season but we are getting healthy and have really built some momentum.”
