Delaware Vaults to No. 14 in USILA Poll; Heads to No. 6 Duke for NCAA Tourney Saturday
May 10, 2011
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File Photo Courtesy of Thom Kendall
BALTIMORE, Md. -- Thanks to two victories that sealed a second straight Colonial Athletic Association title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the University of Delaware men’s lacrosse team, the Blue Hens moved all the way up to the top 15 in the two national polls announced this week.
The Blue Hens (11-6), who captured the CAA title thanks to tournament victories over nationally ranked Hofstra and Massachusetts last week, moved up from unranked to No. 14 in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Coaches Association poll and from unranked to No. 15 in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse media poll.
Delaware will continue its season this Saturday when the Blue Hens travel to Durham, N.C. to take on the No. 6 ranked and defending national champion Duke Blue Devils (12-5) at 5 p.m. at Koskinen Stadium. The game will be televised live on ESPNU Television.
The Blue Hens will be making their second straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament and their third in five seasons. Delaware advanced to NCAA Final Four in 2007 and fell to North Carolina 14-13 in last year’s first round game. The Hens will be making their sixth NCAA Tournament overall, all for head coach Bob Shillinglaw.
Syracuse earned the No. 1 spot in the USILA poll with eight first place votes while Cornell was second and earned the other top vote. Johns Hopkins was at No. 3 followed by Denver, Notre Dame, Duke, Bucknell, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, Villanova, Colgate, Hofstra, Delaware, Harvard, Penn, Stony Brook, Massachusetts, Hartford, and Siena. Among the teams also earning votes are Georgetown, Army, Yale, Loyola, Fairfield, Drexel, Penn State, and Mt. St. Mary’s.
In the Nike/Inside Lacrosse poll, Syracuse was also the No. 1 team as the Orangemen earned 12 first place votes. Cornell was at No. 2 and had two first place votes while Johns Hopkins picked up the other first place vote and was at No. 3.
Notre Dame was at No. 5 followed by Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, Bucknell, Hofstra, Villanova, Colgate, Harvard, Delaware, Massachusetts, Stony Brook, Penn, Yale, and Hartford. Among those also receiving votes were Loyola, Army, Siena, Fairfield, Penn State, and Georgetown.
