45 years ago I was a freshman defenseman playing lacrosse for Franklin and Marshall College. On April 22, 1978 we traveled to Newark, Delaware and had one of the biggest wins in F&M lacrosse history. We beat the Delaware Blue Hens 11-10 in Delaware Stadium.
On Saturday April 15, 2023 I traveled 60 miles up island to watch Stony Brook University play Delaware at LaValle Stadium in Stony Brook, NY. These days division 3 Franklin and Marshall College no longer plays D1 Delaware. The Blue Hens are currently ranked No.16 in the latest USILA D1 Coaches Poll. Their game with Stony Brook started as a defensive battle with no scoring for the first ten minutes. Then Canadian Senior Mike Robinson scored with 4:34 left in the opening quarter with a beautiful over the shoulder shot. Thirty seconds later Commack, LI senior Blake Behlen scored to tie the game. Twenty nine seconds later Canadian senior Tye Kurtz scored for Delaware. Forty four seconds later Maryland sophomore Jason Kolar scored to put Delaware up 3-1. 39 seconds later Brightwaters, LI Senior Will Button scored to make it 3-2. With sixteen seconds left in the first quarter Kolar scored his second goal of the quarter to put DE up 4-2.
1:29 into the 2nd quarter Canadian junior Cam Acchione scored for DE to make it 5-2. 1:09 later Stony Brook’s Canadian junior Noah Armitage scored to make it 5-3. Thirty one seconds later Robinson got his 2nd goal for DE to make it 6-3. Forty eight seconds later Stony Brook native Dylan Pallonetti scored his first goal to make it 6-4. After almost 8 minutes of no scoring, Robinson got his 3rd goal of the first half with only 15 seconds left in the half. It was a backbreaking goal. Robinson had a first half “hat trick”with 3 goals. DE took a 7-4 lead into halftime. Delaware came out hot for the second half scoring three straight goals to go up 10-4 with four minutes left in the 3rd quarter. Tennessee product Nick Jessen had the first. Followed by Canadian senior defenseman Grant Owen and Kurtz got his 2nd goal with 4 minutes left in the quarter. Stony Brook finally scored their first goal of the second half when Armitage got his 2nd goal with 1:17 to go in the 3rd quarter. It was a Kurtz to Kurtz goal for DE to start the 4th quarter when Tye assisted on his brother Reed for a goal four minutes into the fourth. Two minutes later St. Anthony High School product and St. John’s University transfer Jonathan Huber scored for Stony Brook and it was 11-6 DE leading with 9:11 left. The Sea Wolves would need a furious comeback to be in the game and got it. Pallonetti scored his 2nd goal with 8:10 to go. Two minutes and ten seconds later Huber scored again and it was 11-8 DE leading with 5:50 to go. Could a miracle be happening? Sixty two seconds later Stony Brook native and Ward Melville product Pallonetti got the “hat trick” and it was 11-9 DE up with 4:48 to play. What a game. Four straight Stony Brook goals! That’s when the miracle comeback stalled. Stony Brook would not score again. Jason Kolar got his “hat trick” for DE when he scored with 3:48 left. That’s when the scoring stopped. It was a 12-9 Blue Hens win. The Sea Wolves played a good game but it was too little too late. Both teams’ goalies and defense were impressive. Pallonetti had us all on the edge of our seats with his two 4th quarter goals getting the Sea Wolves within two after starting the quarter down five. It was a great game.
The next day Sunday April 16th I traveled to Rutgers to watch their 7pm Big Ten matchup with D1 power Maryland. MD is currently ranked No.4 in the USILA Coaches poll. Rutgers is currently No.11. MD jumped out to a 4-0 lead with four first quarter goals by Ryan Siracusa, Jack Koras, Zach Whittier and Daniel Maltz. Forty one seconds into the 2nd quarter MD made it 5-0 when Koras got his second goal. Rutgers finally got on the board with a goal by New Jersey product Jack Aimone with 10:32 to go in the first half. With 8:38 left in the half Brian Cameron scored for Rutgers. Eric Spanos ended the two goal streak by scoring his first goal for MD with 7:54 left in the half. It was 6-2 MD up. Rutgers made it 6-3 twenty one seconds later when Scott Ross scored. MD made the score 8-3 with back to back goals by Whittier and Maltz. They joined Koras with two goals each in the first half. Shane Knobloch scored with 11 seconds left in the half. It was 8-4 MD at halftime. The Terps were ruining Rutgers’ Alumni Appreciation/Senior Day. MD’s freshman sensation Braden Erska started the Terps scoring in the 3rd quarter with a goal. It was followed by Daniel Kelly’s goal to put MD up 10-4 with 7:46 left in the 3rd. Aimone got his second goal for Rutgers with 6:17 left in the 3rd. Spanos got his second goal for MD with 1:56 left in the 3rd. The quarter ended with MD up by six 11-5. Rutgers scored 1:28 into the 4th to make it 11-6 with a goal by defenseman Bobby Russo from Bridgewater, NJ. Eric Civetti scored for Rutgers with 4:09 to go and it was 11-7. Then Canadian sophomore Dante Kulas scored Rutgers 3rd straight goal of the 4th quarter and it was 11-8 with 2:40 to go. That’s when the scoring streak ended and MD won 11-8. The 4-0 hole Rutgers dug in the first quarter was the difference. After the first quarter Rutgers scored 8 goals to MD’s 7. Lacrosse is a game of runs. You have to get a decent start to have a chance of winning.
