Blue Hens fall short in NCAA lacrosse quarterfinals

Delaware State News
Posted 5/22/22

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Twice on Sunday, Delaware rallied to tie the game or take the lead.

But the Blue Hens just didn’t have a third comeback left in them.

Seventh-seeded Cornell netted …

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Blue Hens fall short in NCAA lacrosse quarterfinals

Posted

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Twice on Sunday, Delaware rallied to tie the game or take the lead.

But the Blue Hens just didn’t have a third comeback left in them.

Seventh-seeded Cornell netted three straight fourth-quarter goals before downing Delaware, 10-8, in the NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse quarterfinals in Ohio Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

The loss ended a seven-game winning streak for Delaware (13-6), which was trying to reach the national semifinals for the first time since 2007.

Trailing 7-4, the Hens’ Tye Kurtz tallied three goals in a row to tie the game 7-7 going into the fourth quarter.

But Cornell (13-4) answered with three goals in a row to take control. Kurtz added another goal but, with only 39 seconds left, it was too little, too late.

“I couldn’t really be more proud of this team,” said Kurtz, who scored five goals. “I think we fought really hard from the very start. I am honored to be a part of the run, so to speak, that we have been going on.

“But realistically, no one on our team had a doubt that we could do this and that this was possible. I know a lot of people doubted us, and you could consider it a run, but our team believed the whole time that we could do this.”

Delaware fell behind 2-0 to start the game but responded with four straight goals to build a 4-2 advantage.

The Big Red, however, netted the next three goals to own a 5-4 advantage at halftime. Cornell extended that run in the second half, eventually netting five straight goals to open up its 7-4 advantage.

In one stretch, Delaware went 26 minutes without scoring. But the Hens’ defense kept it in the game.

Owen Grant had two caused turnovers and four ground balls. Logan Premtaj and Joe Speers both also had two caused turnovers while Jason Seiter tied Grant for the team lead with four ground ball pickups.

Goalie Matt Kilkeary finished with 12 saves for his sixth double-digit performance of the season.

“(I am) super proud of our young men,” said Delaware coach Ben Deluca, a Cornell grad. “(They were) just absolute warriors throughout the year and did everything we could have asked for from investment into our culture and into our process.

“From day one they committed to each other and they’ve committed to the program and they have a lot to be proud of. Came up short today, disappointing, but I think we talk a great deal about the process and not the result and they continued to work toward that process today.”

Clay Miller scored a pair of goals with Grant adding the other. Mark Bieda had two assists while Kurtz’ hat trick was his ninth of the season.

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