2008 Woodie Awards
Delaware lacrosse falls to No. 7 Georgetown
by Brendan Reed
Issue date: 3/16/07 Section: Online
A win over the No. 7 ranked team in the country would certainly be a momentum builder for the men's lacrosse team, whose upcoming schedule does not get any easier. But Delaware could not get its first quality win of the season, losing to Georgetown 9-8 in a back-and-forth battle Wednesday night in front of 1,177 fans at Rullo Stadium.
Despite the loss, it was a historic night for Delaware senior Alex Smith, who set the NCAA career face-off win record when, in the third quarter, he scooped up career win No. 839. Even though he broke the record, Smith was more concerned with the loss.
"I'm happy to break the record," Smith said. "But at the same time I felt like this was a game we needed to win. It was one of those close games and [the record] would have been much sweeter if we won."
In attendance Wednesday night was Steve Shaw, the former Delaware All-American who was 838-348 (.706) In face-offs in his career. After Smith broke the record the game was momentarily stopped so he could go over to the sideline and shake Shaw's hand.
"I think it's a testament to his hard work," Shaw said. "He's been a real student of the face-off. Taking every face-off for four years of college is a tough thing to do. He's done a terrific job, I'm really proud of him."
For the Hens, senior attackman Adam Zuder-Havens scored his second consecutive hat-trick and added an assist. Freshman midfielder D.J. Widlake scored his second and third goals of the season while senior attackman Dan Deckelbaum, junior midfielder Kyle Rotelli and sophomore midfielder Sean Calabrese scored one goal each.
With the game tied at eight and under five minutes to play, Georgetown was able to control the ball and run their offense. That process ended when junior midfielder Dan D'Agnes found Andrew Brancaccio open approximately ten yards in front of the goal for the eventual game winner. However, Delaware had its chance with 1:25 remaining when Hoya senior midfielder Ryan Still was penalized 30 seconds for holding. Despite being a man up and getting the ball to senior attackman Cam Howard on the crease, the Hens could not pull out the victory.
Delaware head coach Bob Shillinglaw, whose team has not beaten a top-10 opponent since 1999, said he was pleased with both his team's performance as well as the support shown by the fans.
"I'm proud of the team and the effort that they gave," Shillinglaw said. "They fought hard throughout the whole four quarters. It was terrific to see some student support, I know our guys and our coaching staff really appreciate it.
"It's a tough loss," he said. "We were right where we wanted to be, we just fell a little short. We feel like we can play with anybody, I think the focus is there but we just had too many turnovers and against a top-10 team that's going to kill you."
Delaware returns to action March 24th at 7 p.m. when they host CAA foe Hofstra. It will be a rematch of last year's CAA title game in which the Pride upended the Hens 12-6 to advance to the NCAA tournament.
Despite the loss, it was a historic night for Delaware senior Alex Smith, who set the NCAA career face-off win record when, in the third quarter, he scooped up career win No. 839. Even though he broke the record, Smith was more concerned with the loss.
"I'm happy to break the record," Smith said. "But at the same time I felt like this was a game we needed to win. It was one of those close games and [the record] would have been much sweeter if we won."
In attendance Wednesday night was Steve Shaw, the former Delaware All-American who was 838-348 (.706) In face-offs in his career. After Smith broke the record the game was momentarily stopped so he could go over to the sideline and shake Shaw's hand.
"I think it's a testament to his hard work," Shaw said. "He's been a real student of the face-off. Taking every face-off for four years of college is a tough thing to do. He's done a terrific job, I'm really proud of him."
For the Hens, senior attackman Adam Zuder-Havens scored his second consecutive hat-trick and added an assist. Freshman midfielder D.J. Widlake scored his second and third goals of the season while senior attackman Dan Deckelbaum, junior midfielder Kyle Rotelli and sophomore midfielder Sean Calabrese scored one goal each.
With the game tied at eight and under five minutes to play, Georgetown was able to control the ball and run their offense. That process ended when junior midfielder Dan D'Agnes found Andrew Brancaccio open approximately ten yards in front of the goal for the eventual game winner. However, Delaware had its chance with 1:25 remaining when Hoya senior midfielder Ryan Still was penalized 30 seconds for holding. Despite being a man up and getting the ball to senior attackman Cam Howard on the crease, the Hens could not pull out the victory.
Delaware head coach Bob Shillinglaw, whose team has not beaten a top-10 opponent since 1999, said he was pleased with both his team's performance as well as the support shown by the fans.
"I'm proud of the team and the effort that they gave," Shillinglaw said. "They fought hard throughout the whole four quarters. It was terrific to see some student support, I know our guys and our coaching staff really appreciate it.
"It's a tough loss," he said. "We were right where we wanted to be, we just fell a little short. We feel like we can play with anybody, I think the focus is there but we just had too many turnovers and against a top-10 team that's going to kill you."
Delaware returns to action March 24th at 7 p.m. when they host CAA foe Hofstra. It will be a rematch of last year's CAA title game in which the Pride upended the Hens 12-6 to advance to the NCAA tournament.
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