Hofstra 3/23
Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2024 5:04 pm
The Blue Hens are 6-2 versus Hofstra since DeLuca took over at UD. However, both of those losses were brutal for the Hens. In 2021 Delaware was 7-1 in conference and 10-2 overall when they faced Hofstra in the first round of the CAAs at Hofstra (for some reason) when they lost a 10-9 heartbreaker. Hens had extremely high hopes for that season but were dashed in just 60 minutes on Long Island. The second DeLuca loss in 2022 was actually a catalyst for the Hens. After dropping that 12-11 decision at home in a lackluster performance, UD fell to 6-5 on the season. They went on to win seven straight games, including a first-round victory over Georgetown, before finally succumbing 10-8 to Cornell in the quarterfinals.
So that is all to say, you just never know when the Hens face Hofstra.
Despite some of the things you may read on this forum, Seth Tierney is an excellent game-day coach, particularly on the defensive end. He is an expert at taking away an opposing team’s strength. In this case he will focus almost exclusively on shutting down JP Ward. I am sure he watched Syracuse film from last week when they eliminated both Ward and Robinson and challenged the Hens young middies to beat them. I am not sure Hofstra has the same skill as Syracuse (who limited Duke to 4 goals yesterday BTW). But that won’t stop them from trying.
The Pride are bringing a disappointing 3-5 record to Newark with three wins against Wagner, St. John’s and Siena and five losses to Navy (16-8), Marist (12-10), Rutgers (13-8), UNC 21-9 and last week to Fairfield in the CAA opener 12-11.
Hofstra gives up 13.5 goals a game while scoring 12.25 (only 9.2 goals a game in 5 losses). The Pride is a very good passing team with over 60% of their goals coming on assists. Northern Californian Griffin Turner does an excellent job finding the open man on offense and not surprisingly, leads the team in assists with 17. He has some terrific shooters to pass to - John Madsen has 24 goals (44% shooting) in eight games and jitterbug dodger Rory Jones has 16 goals and is also a great interior passer. Colton Rudd (11g 8a) and Canadian Justin Sykes (13g 3a) are also proficient shooters. Sykes is an extremly physical dodger who likes to attack from GLE with a very strong left hand (a somewhat less aggressive version of Reid Bowering). As a team Hofstra shoots .279 which is actually not bad. The problem is they allow opponents to shoot .322, which is very bad.
The strength of this team is possessions. They win 56% of faceoffs driven primarily by Chase Patterson’s .591 winning percentage. They also get a ton of ground balls (averaging 31 a game). However, they also turn the ball over a ton (16.9 times a game ranked 50th in D1).
Despite giving up nearly 14 goals a game, the defense has some very athletic players including grad student JT Roselle (11 CTs and 19 GBs) who is a super-quick LSM transfer from Marist and UNC. I remember him scoring a bunch of goals at Marist. He is really a terrific athlete from Cold Spring Harbor on Strong Island. Blake Cooling (9 CTs and 14 gbs) a 6’2” 200 defender, has looked very good at times this year as well. Sophomore Will Delaney from Episcopal HS, outside of Philly, is also an unbelievably good athlete. He has the potential to be a dominant defender. Goalie Sean Henderson with an overall .452 save percentage is coming off his best game this year against Fairfield when he made 15 saves and allowed just 12 goals. He played well enough to win that game, but the offense just couldn’t get rolling.
I will not make any predictions for this game because as I mentioned earlier, it’s Hofstra. Anything can happen when they play UD. The Hens 6 on 6 defense was pretty good last week versus Syracuse, allowing just 10 even-strength goals. Cuse went 4-7 on the man-up offense, which really killed Delaware. Many, if not all, of those penalties were very avoidable – late hits, delay of game and interference calls were a combination of tick-tacky and excessive. Anyway, Delaware has to clean that up this week and stay out of the box, if possible. It would be a bonus to get Jason Kolar back after missing the last two games. He is the fastest offensive middie and can cause match-up problems for Hofstra. And JP Ward and Mike Robinson have to find ways to get loose. The Hens pick game at X has been used sparingly this year, but it is important to create better match ups on offense.
Gonna be cold and rainy (What else is new?) so get your waterproof gear out and support your local Blue Hens. They had 1,600 soaking fans out for Michigan. Be nice to see a big crowd again.
So that is all to say, you just never know when the Hens face Hofstra.
Despite some of the things you may read on this forum, Seth Tierney is an excellent game-day coach, particularly on the defensive end. He is an expert at taking away an opposing team’s strength. In this case he will focus almost exclusively on shutting down JP Ward. I am sure he watched Syracuse film from last week when they eliminated both Ward and Robinson and challenged the Hens young middies to beat them. I am not sure Hofstra has the same skill as Syracuse (who limited Duke to 4 goals yesterday BTW). But that won’t stop them from trying.
The Pride are bringing a disappointing 3-5 record to Newark with three wins against Wagner, St. John’s and Siena and five losses to Navy (16-8), Marist (12-10), Rutgers (13-8), UNC 21-9 and last week to Fairfield in the CAA opener 12-11.
Hofstra gives up 13.5 goals a game while scoring 12.25 (only 9.2 goals a game in 5 losses). The Pride is a very good passing team with over 60% of their goals coming on assists. Northern Californian Griffin Turner does an excellent job finding the open man on offense and not surprisingly, leads the team in assists with 17. He has some terrific shooters to pass to - John Madsen has 24 goals (44% shooting) in eight games and jitterbug dodger Rory Jones has 16 goals and is also a great interior passer. Colton Rudd (11g 8a) and Canadian Justin Sykes (13g 3a) are also proficient shooters. Sykes is an extremly physical dodger who likes to attack from GLE with a very strong left hand (a somewhat less aggressive version of Reid Bowering). As a team Hofstra shoots .279 which is actually not bad. The problem is they allow opponents to shoot .322, which is very bad.
The strength of this team is possessions. They win 56% of faceoffs driven primarily by Chase Patterson’s .591 winning percentage. They also get a ton of ground balls (averaging 31 a game). However, they also turn the ball over a ton (16.9 times a game ranked 50th in D1).
Despite giving up nearly 14 goals a game, the defense has some very athletic players including grad student JT Roselle (11 CTs and 19 GBs) who is a super-quick LSM transfer from Marist and UNC. I remember him scoring a bunch of goals at Marist. He is really a terrific athlete from Cold Spring Harbor on Strong Island. Blake Cooling (9 CTs and 14 gbs) a 6’2” 200 defender, has looked very good at times this year as well. Sophomore Will Delaney from Episcopal HS, outside of Philly, is also an unbelievably good athlete. He has the potential to be a dominant defender. Goalie Sean Henderson with an overall .452 save percentage is coming off his best game this year against Fairfield when he made 15 saves and allowed just 12 goals. He played well enough to win that game, but the offense just couldn’t get rolling.
I will not make any predictions for this game because as I mentioned earlier, it’s Hofstra. Anything can happen when they play UD. The Hens 6 on 6 defense was pretty good last week versus Syracuse, allowing just 10 even-strength goals. Cuse went 4-7 on the man-up offense, which really killed Delaware. Many, if not all, of those penalties were very avoidable – late hits, delay of game and interference calls were a combination of tick-tacky and excessive. Anyway, Delaware has to clean that up this week and stay out of the box, if possible. It would be a bonus to get Jason Kolar back after missing the last two games. He is the fastest offensive middie and can cause match-up problems for Hofstra. And JP Ward and Mike Robinson have to find ways to get loose. The Hens pick game at X has been used sparingly this year, but it is important to create better match ups on offense.
Gonna be cold and rainy (What else is new?) so get your waterproof gear out and support your local Blue Hens. They had 1,600 soaking fans out for Michigan. Be nice to see a big crowd again.
. My wife thinks we can sit inside and watch the game 
. Beat Hofstra!