Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens men's lacrosse

The Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens men's lacrosse team represents the University of Delaware in NCAA Division I men's college lacrosse. Delaware currently competes as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) and plays its home games at Delaware Stadium in Newark, Delaware.

Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens men's lacrosse
Founded	1948; 77 years ago (1948)
University	University of Delaware
Head coach	Ben DeLuca (since 2018 season)
Stadium	Delaware Stadium (capacity: 16,730)
Location	Newark, Delaware
Conference	Atlantic 10
Nickname	Fightin' Blue Hens
Colors	Royal blue and gold[1]
NCAA Tournament Final Fours
2007
NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals
1984, 1999, 2007, 2022
NCAA Tournament appearances
(8) 1984, 1999, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2022, 2023
Conference Tournament championships
2007, 2010, 2011, 2022, 2023
Conference regular season championships
(24) 1961, 1962, 1970, 1971, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2021, 2022, 2023

History

Head coach Bob Shillinglaw led the Blue Hens for over 30 years and is only the second man to coach 500 lacrosse games.

In 2007, Delaware was ranked 15th in the country heading into the 2007 NCAA tournament. The team had won seven games in a row and the CAA tournament. Delaware advanced to the semifinals (Final Four), defeating #2 Virginia before losing to Johns Hopkins 8–3. It marked the team's only NCAA Final Four.

In the program's history, Delaware has produced several notable players, including NCAA Player of the Year John Grant, Jr. among the world's best lacrosse players, Anthony DiMarzo among the all-time leaders in Division I career assists, Jordan Hall of the Major League Lacrosse Rochester Rattlers, Matt Alrich, Chris Collins, Keevin Galbraith, and Curtis Dickson.

In 2022, the Delaware Blue Hens upset the #2 ranked Georgetown Hoyas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to Cornell 10-8 in the Quarterfinals.

The Hens have won 6 NCAA Tournament games in 8 tournaments.

In November 2023, Delaware announced plans to leave the CAA for Conference USA, beginning on July 1, 2025.^[2] On May 21, 2024, it was announced that Delaware would join the Atlantic 10 Conference as a lacrosse-only member beginning play in 2026 as Conference USA does not sponsor the sport.^[3]

Season Results

The following is a list of Delaware's results by season as an NCAA Division I program:

Season	Coach	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Mickey Heinecken (Middle Atlantic Conference) (1966–1972)
1971	Mickey Heinecken	9–3	8–2	1st
1972	Mickey Heinecken	8–3	6–2	3rd
Mickey Heinecken:		65–37 (.637)	53–21 (.716)
Jim Grube (Middle Atlantic Conference) (1973–1974)
1973	Jim Grube	5–8	5–4
1974	Jim Grube	7–5	4–4
Jim Grube (East Coast Conference) (1975–1978)
1975	Jim Grube	10–2	4–0	1st
1976	Jim Grube	11–1	4–0	1st
1977	Jim Grube	9–4	4–0	1st
1978	Jim Grube	7–7	3–1	1st
Jim Grube:		49–27 (.645)	24–9 (.727)
Bob Shillinglaw (East Coast Conference) (1979–1991)
1979	Bob Shillinglaw	13–2	4–0	1st
1980	Bob Shillinglaw	8–8	4–0	1st
1981	Bob Shillinglaw	8–8	4–0	1st
1982	Bob Shillinglaw	6–10	4–0	1st
1983	Bob Shillinglaw	8–8	4–1	2nd
1984	Bob Shillinglaw	12–4	5–0	1st	NCAA Division I Quarterfinals
1985	Bob Shillinglaw	9–7	4–1	T–1st
1986	Bob Shillinglaw	10–6	6–0	1st
1987	Bob Shillinglaw	8–8	5–1	2nd
1988	Bob Shillinglaw	6–10	4–2	2nd
1989	Bob Shillinglaw	8–8	5–1	3rd
1990	Bob Shillinglaw	7–9	4–2	3rd
1991	Bob Shillinglaw	6–10	3–1	2nd
Bob Shillinglaw (America East Conference) (1992–2001)
1992	Bob Shillinglaw	8–7	4–0	1st
1993	Bob Shillinglaw	5–9	4–0	1st
1994	Bob Shillinglaw	8–6	4–0	1st
1995	Bob Shillinglaw	6–9	4–1	2nd
1996	Bob Shillinglaw	8–7	4–2	3rd
1997	Bob Shillinglaw	3–12	2–4	5th
1998	Bob Shillinglaw	9–6	3–2	2nd
1999	Bob Shillinglaw	14–3	5–0	1st	NCAA Division I Quarterfinals
2000	Bob Shillinglaw	10–6	4–1	T–1st
2001	Bob Shillinglaw	6–9	3–2	3rd
Bob Shillinglaw (Colonial Athletic Association) (2002–2017)
2002	Bob Shillinglaw	3–11	0–6	7th
2003	Bob Shillinglaw	5–10	0–5	6th
2004	Bob Shillinglaw	10–6	2–3	T–3rd
2005	Bob Shillinglaw	11–6	4–1	T–1st	NCAA Division I First Round
2006	Bob Shillinglaw	12–5	3–3	T–3rd
2007	Bob Shillinglaw	13–6	4–2	3rd	NCAA Division I Final Four
2008	Bob Shillinglaw	9–7	3–3	T–3rd
2009	Bob Shillinglaw	5–10	2–4	T–5th
2010	Bob Shillinglaw	10–7	3–2	T–2nd	NCAA Division I First Round
2011	Bob Shillinglaw	11–7	4–2	T–2nd	NCAA Division I First Round
2012	Bob Shillinglaw	6–9	1–5	T–6th
2013	Bob Shillinglaw	5–10	1–5	T–6th
2014	Bob Shillinglaw	7–9	1–4	T–5th
2015	Bob Shillinglaw	5–10	1–4	6th
2016	Bob Shillinglaw	5–10	2–3	T–4th
2017	Bob Shillinglaw	7–8	0–5	6th
Bob Shillinglaw:		310–303 (.506)	124–79 (.611)
Ben DeLuca (Colonial Athletic Association) (2018–Present)
2018	Ben DeLuca	6–8	3–2	T–2nd
2019	Ben DeLuca	10–5	3–2	3rd
2020	Ben DeLuca	4–2	0–0	†	†
2021	Ben DeLuca	10–3	7–1	1st
2022	Ben DeLuca	13–6	3–2	T–1st	NCAA Division I Quarterfinals
2023	Ben DeLuca	13–5	6–1	1st	NCAA Division I First Round
2024	Ben DeLuca	9–5	6–1	2nd
2025	Ben DeLuca	2–1	0–0
Ben DeLuca:		67–35 (.657)	28–9 (.757)
Total:		570–491–3 (.537)
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

†NCAA canceled 2020 collegiate activities due to the COVID-19 virus.

See also

• NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship
• Wingate Memorial Trophy