Delaware’s men’s lacrosse team fired eight shots in the first four minutes of Monday’s game against Mercer. Mercer’s goalie Justin Bateman saved those that didn’t sail wide, and the Hens were off to a slow start against a 1-10 lacrosse program that has only existed for two years.

The Hens 4-7 record heading into Monday knocked them out of the national rankings, which they’d made at the beginning of the season. They’ve had a tough time scoring despite getting good opportunities, head coach Bob Shillinglaw said, and those first four minutes were no different.

Then senior attackman Grant Kaleikau opened up the scoring off a Mercer turnover with 10:51 left in the first quarter, and the flood gates opened. Delaware stacked on five more goals before the first quarter ended, pulling the game out of the Bears’ reach.

“We’re very pleased to come away with back-to-back wins,” Shillinglaw said. “The team played really hard. At times, our execution was a little sloppy.”

Senior John Austin led the Hens in scoring with three goals, and after breaking open the scoring, Kaleikau contributed three assists.

“Today, things went my way,” Austin said. “We’ve been getting great shots all year long, and today our main focus was just putting it on cage.”

Austin was the only multiple goal scorer, with the 11 other goals coming from different Hens.

Delaware clicked in all facets of the game, not just on offense. The defense completely shut down Mercer. They sprung effective surprise double-teams that caused 23 Bear turnovers. Junior defenseman Connor Fitzgerald said that heading into the game, the Hens knew they had an advantage in athleticism.

“Our coach talked to us beforehand, wanted us to be a little more aggressive,” Fitzgerald said. “We played great on-ball defense.”

He also noted Delaware netminder Brett Anton made an impact.

“Our goalie really stepped up for us,” Fitzgerald said. “He made a ton of saves.”

Anton finished with 14 saves, and allowed two Mercer shots to slip by.

The game ended with a 14-2 victory Delaware to improve the Hens to 5-7, but they are still winless through three league games, with three more to close out the season.

Their next chance to mark a “W” in conference play is Saturday at home against St. Joseph’s.

“They’re very improved, everybody in the conference is a tough game,” Shillinglaw said. “Their goalie is very good, so we if we want to put it by him, we’ve got to do better.”

After St. Joseph’s, the schedule doesn’t get easier for the Hens. They swing over to Penn State April 21 and come back home to take on undefeated UMass, currently ranked No. 2 in the country, on April 27. To have a chance at making the CAA Tournament, the Hens need to win all three games.

“We’re fighting for our season right now,” Fitzgerald said.