by Daniel Gruber
Hens fight another conference battle in regular season finale
The university of Delaware Men’s lacrosse team faced another tough CAA foe on Friday night in UMass at their home in Amherst, Mass.
In a game that was close throughout, the hens went down to the wire but ultimately fell to the 15th ranked Minutemen of UMass.
“Tonight, I’m proud of the way our guys battled, but UMass was able to come up with a few more plays and that ultimately made the difference,” head coach Ben Deluca said.
Delaware was lead offensively by junior Charlie Kitchen scored twice, while freshman Clay Miller had a career day, scoring 3 goals and adding an assist. Kitchen, scored a goal in a 31st consecutive contest, setting a new school record previously held by lacrosse pro Curtis Dickson.
Junior goalkeeper led the Hens defensively racking up 13 saves, while the unit caused 10 UMass turnovers for the contest.
In the early part of the contest, UMass controlled the game scoring 3 quick goals and jumping to a 3-0 lead.
UD settled in, finishing the half scoring four goals, including goals by Charlie Kitchen and Jackson Finigan in the final minutes and holding the minutemen to two, with the half concluding a 5-4 UMass lead.
The second half began with a quick Blue Hen goal to knot the score at 5-5. Then two 3 goal runs by each team to finish out the third quarter would keep the score tied up at 8-8 heading into the fourth.
A minutemen goal to start the fourth jumped them into a 1 goal lead, but Charlie Kitchen answered with his second goal of the contest to make it 9-9 with only minutes remaining.
Delaware’s offense went stagnant in those final minutes and the minutemen capitalized scoring 2 late goals to solidify an 11-9 home victory.
Up next, with Delaware completing their regular season finale, they now await the seeding for the CAA tournament, which begins in early May.