Penn 2/24

[LILax]

Delaware hasn’t really been tested this year with easy victories over Lafayette and St. John’s. But the season will start in earnest this Saturday afternoon at Franklin Field when they Hens face a talented Penn Quakers squad for the first time since 2000 when the Hens topped the Quakers 12-6 in Newark. While the Quakers have dominated this series which goes back to 1951, the Hens have won three of the last four meetings. The last eight meetings, going back to 1986, have been split with both teams going 4-4.

So what can we expect
The Hens scrimmaged Penn last February in a very physical match up in Philly that the Hens ended up ahead 8-5 when the starters of both teams were removed in the second half. Since that time the Hens have had to rebuild their defense while the Quakers brought back all of their very talented defensive starters. The only major loss for Penn this year was losing All-American midfielder Sam Handley (30g 25a), who was the proverbial straw that stirred the drink on offense.

As mentioned, this is a very talented returning defense that gave up just 10 goals a game last year. These guys are big athletic poles that are super aggressive, including Ethan Till (6’2” 195), Peter Blake (6’ 1’ 200lb), Brendan Levelle (6’ 210lbs) and freshman LSM Matthew Till (6’5” 210) out of the Bullis School. They also added Anthony McMullan (6’ 2” 210lb) who is an impact freshman SSDM out of The Hill School. He stood out in the Georgetown game with three caused turnovers. Backing up this solid unit is senior goalie Emmet Carroll who is coming off a 17 save performance against Albany. Carroll is a tall, rangy tender who is very strong on high shots. He has given up just 9.5 goals a game with a .596 save percentage. That is very good.

The Quakers are 1-1 after an opening 12-9 loss to Georgetown and an 11-7 win over Albany on Wednesday. This Saturday’s game against the Hens will be the third straight home game for Penn.

On offense the Quakers are led by senior attackman Ben Smith who had 27 goals and 7 assists last year. He is joined at attack by junior Tynan Walsh who has 5 goals and 2 assists this year and junior Luke DiNola (2G 2A) out of Summit NJ.

Coach Murphy runs two midfield units equally. He starts James Shipley (10g 18a last year), freshman Leo Hoffman (2G 2A) and off-ball shooter Gabe Furey, who had 10 goals last year on 49 shots (.204). Hoffman was a highly-recruited attackman out of The Brunswick school and is just getting used to the pace and competition at this level, but has a ton of talent.

The Quakers were expecting to be competitive at FOGO this year, but have not been very successful to date. Returning starter Chris Arceri who was just a touch under 50% last year apparently got hurt in the opener. As a team Penn is only winning 35% of faceoffs with Ethan Constanzo (.348) taking the majority of draws.

How the Hens can pull off this win
The Hens have to be competitive at the faceoff x. OJ Morris has been terrific so far this year covering for injured Logan Premtaj. He has a .694 winning percentage against middling competition. As mentioned earlier, Penn has apparently lost its top FOGO to injury, so I think they will go primarily with Costanzo who is at .394 so far this year. As a team they are only winning 35% so I would hope that the Hens can at least split faceoffs evenly on Saturday. It would be a bonus if they could get significantly above 50%.

The Hens offense will need to start at the midfield. I think that starting attack of PJ Ward, Mike Robinson and John McCurry will be more successful off ball rather than attempting to out-bully the Quakers bully defense. I would expect that the Hens will need Brendan Powers, Cam Acchione, Nick Jessen and Jason Kolar to win the one-on-one battles in order to free up Robinson and McCurry for off-ball opportunities. Expect to see both Powers and Jessen inverting when the matchups favor them. Penn has also been susceptible to penalties this year as a result of their aggressive defense. They have given up 3 man-down goals in 8 attempts. The Hens must make them pay for these penalties, which will definitely happen. Goals won’t come easily against this stout defense, but I believe the Hens can get to 13, which could be enough to win.

Hens will need goalie Kevin Ellington (.657 save percentage) to continue his hot start. He will have a lot of help from the Hens physical defense that has yielded just six goals a game (albeit against less-than-stellar competition). Should be a fun game. I am going to watch from home. Too cold at Franklin Field this time of year.

[Milehighbluehen]

Thanks LI, I really look forward to your weekly breakdowns.
Hens are +1.5 with an o/u line of 24 on Draft Kings

[Cluck U]

Thanks for the review, LILax. Always a good read.

Get physical (while avoiding silly fouls…we were in 2-man down situations last game) grind out the ground balls and take home the win.

Penn is no longer ranked, but they are receiving votes. Our limited number of games and our weak SOS in all reality likely prevents us from making the playoffs as a wild card if we don’t win the CAA title…but this is a game we need to win (along with Michigan next week) if we are to have any hope.

[dchen]

Tough loss 11-10. We had two shots on goal in last 6 seconds.

[deweyhen]

Got destroyed on face offs. won 6 of 24

[Henny]

Penn had several stops in the fourth that was the key to the win. Also face offs kills the Hens. Ugh!

[Jaxhen1]

The faceoff domination by Penn surprised me, they hadn’t been that good on faceoffs in their prior games.

[Cluck U]

Brutal loss.

Their goalie was making some freaking awesome saves (and ours made a few great ones, too). 16 saves for the Penn goalie…but saves aren’t always created equal…several were spectacular.

As mentioned, we were dominated on the face offs… completely outmatched and looked lost. Our guys didn’t know where the ball was going off the face off or how to stop the opponent from doing whatever they wanted. Got beat by quick hands, speed, bulk and positioning.

Have to win the conference to get a bid…but we knew that anyway.

Stony Brook didn’t look great…shut down Dylan and they can be beaten. He had 14 ( ) shots and 4 goals yesterday. Haven’t seen Towson, yet.

Michigan on Saturday. Need to get better flow on offense…10 goals isn’t going to win many games. McCurry is taking shots…but he is misfiring and not putting many on net. On the other hand, a few of our shots hit their goalie right in the midsection…too easy. Hope we find a solution because sitting around waiting for just Robinson and Ward to rescue us and score zillions isn’t going to work against the better teams.

Weather leaning more towards rain in the morning and some showers lingering around afterward. Temps lowered from near 60 to lower-to-mid-50s.

[Cluck U]

By the way…OUTSTANDING announcers.

They called a great game…knowledgable (including about local high school talent) and entertaining. Wow. Comparatively, it was painful to listen to other games…some of those guys might as well have been calling a round of golf.

Bummed about the game result, but definitely a good game to watch and listen to those guys.

[bluehenbillk]

Disappointing result, other than beating Hopkins a few years ago another OOC loss when we face better competition

[77HEN]

I would have gone to the game but was committed to something else. Tough game, tough loss. The face off problems have been going on for quite some time now. I think coach is doing a great job but am puzzled that he can’t come up with some answers for face offs.

UM gonna be a challenge, but I will be there to watch some good lacrosse and root for the home team.

Ps - Agree with Cluck that the Penn announcers were very good.

[LILax]

Delaware losing a close game 11-10 to Penn is not the end of the world. They had a few critical things work against them. First, Virginia transfer Mac Eldridge was back from injury at FOGO and absolutely dominated the Hens winning 15 of 19 draws (Penn won 18 of 24 overall). Second, Penn goalie Emmet Carroll made 16 saves (many spectacular) to hold the prolific Delaware offense to just 10 goals. And third, Mike Robinson hit the outside pipe on a last second desperation shot with just 6 seconds left.

With all of that said, the Hens played a hell of a game. They fought for every loose ball and overall played a very sound game. There were three or four defensive breakdowns throughout the game that left Hen goalie Kevin Ellington out on an island. But several times he saved the Hens with unbelievably athletic stops.

The negatives – too many mistakes on defense against a very smart and efficient Penn offense. Hens offense often rushed shots at times when players were wide open on the crease. Faceoffs continue to be a problem even with Logan Premtaj back.

The positives – DeLuca is playing a bunch of young players this year who are gaining valuable experience each week against top D1 talent. The next three weeks will give everyone a better sense of what this team can become and achieve.

New players who stood out- Hank D’Ambrogi (sophomore transfer) had his best game on the second midfield. He made smart choices throughout the game. Freshman Tyler Owings (Boys Latin) has an awesome outside shot that can stretch the defense. He is not afraid to sling it. Freshman Louie Atkinson (The Haverford School) is just a terrific defender and did a great job defending an experienced attack group. Ellington (Loyola Blakefield) has a .623 save percentage after sitting behind Matt DeLuca and Matt Kilkeary for three years. He has been spectacular.

Hens were never going undefeated this year. If they learned something from this loss, then it was a valuable experience. I am hoping that that is the case.

UD will need a great effort this weekend to beat Michigan at the Tub. Should be a fun one. JP Ward, Mike Robinson, Jason Kolar, Brendan Powers and Cam Acchione will need to bring their "A" game this weekend. Michigan is going to score goals. Hens will need at least 15 goals to pull this one off. Can't wait!

[Cluck U]

Delaware losing a close game 11-10 to Penn is not the end of the world. They had a few critical things work against them. First, Virginia transfer Mac Eldridge was back from injury at FOGO and absolutely dominated the Hens winning 15 of 19 draws (Penn won 18 of 24 overall). Second, Penn goalie Emmet Carroll made 16 saves (many spectacular) to hold the prolific Delaware offense to just 10 goals. And third, Mike Robinson hit the outside pipe on a last second desperation shot with just 6 seconds left.

With all of that said, the Hens played a hell of a game. They fought for every loose ball and overall played a very sound game. There were three or four defensive breakdowns throughout the game that left Hen goalie Kevin Ellington out on an island. But several times he saved the Hens with unbelievably athletic stops.

The negatives – too many mistakes on defense against a very smart and efficient Penn offense. Hens offense often rushed shots at times when players were wide open on the crease. Faceoffs continue to be a problem even with Logan Premtaj back.

The positives – DeLuca is playing a bunch of young players this year who are gaining valuable experience each week against top D1 talent. The next three weeks will give everyone a better sense of what this team can become and achieve.

New players who stood out- Hank D’Ambrogi (sophomore transfer) had his best game on the second midfield. He made smart choices throughout the game. Freshman Tyler Owings (Boys Latin) has an awesome outside shot that can stretch the defense. He is not afraid to sling it. Freshman Louie Atkinson (The Haverford School) is just a terrific defender and did a great job defending an experienced attack group. Ellington (Loyola Blakefield) has a .623 save percentage after sitting behind Matt DeLuca and Matt Kilkeary for three years. He has been spectacular.

Hens were never going undefeated this year. If they learned something from this loss, then it was a valuable experience. I am hoping that that is the case.

UD will need a great effort this weekend to beat Michigan at the Tub. Should be a fun one. JP Ward, Mike Robinson, Jason Kolar, Brendan Powers and Cam Acchione will need to bring their "A" game this weekend. Michigan is going to score goals. Hens will need at least 15 goals to pull this one off. Can't wait!

LILax,

Check your PMs.

[BlueHenBill]

It seems like forever that UD is dominated at FO, mostly but not exclusively against higher ranked opponents. Can some one explain to me why HC DeLuca continues to be unable to recruit a top FO man who can win at least 50% of the FOs against all opponents?

[77HEN]

We had a great FO guy in Alex Smith in the years 2005 - 2007. He was dominant, and a 2nd team All American in 2007. Since then? Nothing to write home about. Coach DeLuca’s teams have played really well at UD, but if we could only get 50% or more of face offs………..