NEWARK, Del. -- The University of Delaware men’s lacrosse squad, ranked in the national top 25 in several pre-season polls, will once again kick off the collegiate lacrosse season Saturday as the Blue Hens host Saint Joseph’s at 1 p.m. at Rullo Stadium.

The Delaware vs. Saint Joseph’s matchup will be one of four collegiate games Saturday as the 2009 lacrosse season opens. Navy will host VMI at noon, North Carolina will host Robert Morris at noon, and Ohio State will take on Detroit Mercy in Columbus, Ohio at 1 p.m.

The Blue Hens, who return 19 letterwinners from last year’s squad that went 9-7, have been picked No. 20 in the Inside Lacrosse/Faceoff Yearbook and No. 23 in the LAXNews.com poll. In addition, the Hens have been picked No. 2 in the pre-season Colonial Athletic Association coaches poll.

Led by 30th-year head coach Bob Shillinglaw, the Hens will be looking to post an unprecedented sixth straight winning season and advance to the CAA Tournament semifinals for the sixth straight time. Shillinglaw needs just one win to reach 250 for his career at Delaware and become just the eighth coach in Division I college history to reach that win plateau at one school.

"The coaching staff and players are excited to begin the 2009 season,” said Shillinglaw. “This group has been working extremely hard in pre-season and are ready for the challenges of our demanding non conference schedule and the very competitive CAA conference schedule."

The Blue Hens are led by a trio of pre-season All-CAA selections in junior attackman Curtis Dickson, junior midfielder Martin Cahill, and sophomore defender Pat Dowling.

Dickson was the runner-up for CAA Player of the Year honors a year ago and earned a spot on the USILA honorable mention All-American squad and All-CAA first team after leading the team and the CAA in scoring with 62 points on 46 goals and 16 assists.

He scored two or more goals 12 times during the season, including netting a season-high six goals vs. Drexel and five each vs. Stony Brook, UMBC, and Marist. He also earned pre-season All-American honors by Inside Lacrosse earlier this year.

Cahill, a second-year starter, earned first team All-CAA honors as a sophomore in 2007 when he was second on the team in goals scored (29) and fourth on the squad in total points with 38. He scored three goals in a game six times last season and netted the game-winner in the Hens’ thrilling 8-7 triple overtime win over Albany.

Dowling earned a spot on the CAA All-Rookie team a year ago as a redshirt freshmen when he started all 16 games and led the team with 18 caused turnovers while scooping up 35 groundballs. He anchored a Delaware defense that held opponents to only 9.34 goals per game.

Other top Blue Hens to watch are attackmen Pat Lombard (four goals) and Nick LoManto (two goals), midfielders Beau Davis (13 goals; at right), Kevin Kaminski (16 goals in 2007), and Anthony Ruiz (four goals, 94 faceoffs), and defenders Sean Kostkowski and Braedon Dennis. Sophomore Noah Fossner will take over goalkeeper duties from three-year starter and 2008 All-American Tom Scherr.

Delaware has defeated Saint Joseph’s in all eight meetings, including wins of 18-10 last year in Philadelphia and 23-6 in 2007 at Rullo Stadium.

The Hawks, who went 4-11 last season, are led by three pre-season All-MAAC selections in goalkeeper Erik Hotaling, attackman Sean Cullinan (28 goals), and defender Tom Wengenosky.