The First NCAA Div 1 Game of the 2012 Season, and Other Scrimmages

The 2012 NCAA spring lacrosse season is officially underway!

While most teams are still just doing scrimmages, the University of Delaware and the University of Detroit Mercy kicked off the season with the first official game of the season. This was not just another game for Delaware. Delaware was really wanting a win in order to give their head coach Bob Shillinglaw his 300th career goal.

At half-time things were looking worrisome, with both teams tied at 4-4, and with Detroit the favorite to win not only this game, but also the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title.

Coming out of half-time the No. 19 ranked Blue Hens were pumped, and came back with 12 goals in the third quarter.

The Blue Hens didn’t stop there, and continued the pressure into the fourth quarter, giving Delaware the win over Detroit with a score of 19-6.

This win also secured Bob Shillinglaw his 300th career victory, with an overall record of 300-264. (For 276 of those games, in 34 seasons, Shillinglaw has been at the helm of the Blue Hens) Shillinglaw joins Georgetown’s Dave Urick and Virginia’s Dom Starsia as the only current Division I coaches to reach the 300-win mark.

"This means a lot," said Shillinglaw.

"So many people had a part in this. I've had so many outstanding assistant coaches and players who have made me look good over the years. I'm just really proud of all the alums out there, many of them who were here to today, who made this possible. I'm proud of this year's team and I'm proud to be a part of the University of Delaware lacrosse program."

Picture via: bluehens.com

Delaware will return to action next Saturday, Feb. 11, when the Hens head to Bucknell for a 1 p.m. faceoff.

(Check out the bottom of the article for video recap from the Blue Hens)

There were also a few scrimmages that happened over the weekend.

On Sunday February 5th, 2012 the No. 8th Syracuse University hosted three scrimmages in the Carrier Dome, with the Orange playing against No. 14 Hofstra University, and Division 2’s No. 4 Le Moyne. Hofstra also faced Le Moyne in their own scrimmage.

All three teams played two 90-minute games in a round-robin setup. The first 3 quarters of all the scrimmages were a standard 15-minute regulation quarter, while the fourth quarter was a 15-minute running time clock.

Syracuse defeated both Hofstra (7-5) and Le Moyne (11-5), and Hofstra came out ahead of Le Moyne (9-5).

Syracuse’s defense road tight in both games, and only allowed a combined 10 goals in the two contests.

Syracuse never trailed in the game against Hofstra, and led by as many as three goals (7-4).

There has been a lot of questions about who will replace John Galloway in the goal.

Yesterday, Syracuse decided to give everyone a chance.

Redshirt sophomore goalie Matthew Lerman started and played the opening half, and had 2 saves. Then Dominic Lamolinara, a transfer from Maryland, took over in the goal and had 5 saves in the third quarter. Sophomore Ben Levy then finished the fourth quarter, but did not record any saves.

For Hofstra, Lance Yapor led the offense with a pair of goals. Starting goalie Andrew Gvozden made six saves in two quarters of work.

In Sunday’s opening game, Hofstra scored the first four goals and never trailed on its way to a 9-5 victory over Le Moyne. Adrian Sorichetti led the Pride with three goals. Hofstra also got five saves from Gvozden in the victory.

Connors again led Le Moyne with two goals, and Prevost contributed three assists.

Syracuse finishes it’s preseason schedule on Sunday, February 12 at the Carrier Dome against No. 7 Maryland, with face-off at 12pm EST.