USLacrosse Slide Show

NEPTUNE BEACH, FL -- Curtis Dickson (at right) scored a career-high five goals and dished out an assist, Cam Howard scored twice and handed out five assists, and Martin Cahill recorded his second hat trick in two games with three tallies as the No. 14 ranked University of Delaware men’s lacrosse squad raced past No. 18 UMBC for a 15-7 victory Saturday afternoon at Jack Taylor Stadium.

The game, a rematch of last year’s NCAA quarterfinal matchup won by the Blue Hens by a 10-6 score at Annapolis,MD, was played before a crowd of 4,500 under sunny skies and 75 degree temperatures at Fletcher High School and was part of the inaugural Face Off For a Cause Classic. Proceeds from the game benefit the Wounded Warrior organization that supports wounded U.S. soldiers.

Delaware, now off to a 2-0 start for the fifth straight season, used a seven-goal explosion in the second half to take a 9-3 lead into the break and never looked back. UMBC (0-1), which served as the host team, was playing its season opener.

The win gave Delaware head coach Bob Shillinglaw his 266th career victory, ranking him fourth on the active NCAA Division I wins list. He will become just the second in NCAA lacrosse history to coach 500 career games when the Blue Hens host Marist in their home opener next Saturday, Feb. 23, at Rullo Stadium.

The Blue Hens, who downed UMBC for the fifth time in the last six meetings, won despite being outshot 40-37 and committing 12 penalties, four of which the Retrievers scored on. Delaware goalkeeper Tom Scherr came up with a big effort, turning back 15 UMBC shots.

Ryan Smith led UMBC with three goals while Terry Kimener chipped in with a goal and two assists. Goalkeeper Jeremy Blevins posted nine saves.

Dickson scored all five of his goals in the opening half, including each of the Hens’ first three goals, with Howard assisting on two of them, as Delaware vaulted out to a 4-1 lead in the first 18 minutes of the game.

After Smith scored with 8:19 left in the second quarter for UMBC to cut the lead to 4-2, the Hens answered with four straight goals to go up 8-2. Dickson scored his fifth goal of the game in the final seconds of the second quarter to give the Hens a 9-3 advantage at halftime.

Delaware extended the lead to 11-2 when Howard and Cahill scored goals in the first two minutes of the second half and built the lead to 13-3 when Tim Langmaid and Howard scored consecutive goals to open the final quarter.

Boxscore