NCAA Rewind: Ellington's Breakout, Robinson's Heroics Bright Spots for Blue Hens

Before USA Lacrosse Magazine looks ahead to what’s to come in 2025 — look out for our NCAA Way-Too-Early Top 25 rankings later this summer — our team of staff and contributors decided it was worth taking a last look at the 2024 college lacrosse season.

To do that, we’re taking a journey through 30 of the top teams in men’s and women’s lacrosse to see what went right, what went wrong and how we should feel about the season.

Delaware

USA Lacrosse preseason/final ranking: 16th/also considered
2024 record: 9-5 (6-1 Coastal Athletic Association)

What went right: Goalie Kevin Ellington (.590 save percentage) was the CAA’s defensive player of the year, an impressive breakout for the first-year starter. The Blue Hens’ knowns on offense authored fine seasons, with JP Ward (26 G, 33 A) leading the team in points and Mike Robinson (40 G, 16 A) passing former teammate Tye Kurtz for the school record for goals in a career in late April. Delaware ripped off a five-game winning streak in the back half of the regular season, putting itself in a spot to play for a regular season and conference tournament title.

What went wrong: Positioning itself for a shot at a championship didn’t guarantee one. Delaware fell 11-10 at home to Towson on the final day of the regular season to lose out on the CAA regular season title, then threw the ball over the place eight days later at Towson in the CAA final while absorbing a 15-6 stomping. The Blue Hens went 0-5 against the top 20 in the RPI, dropping nonconference games to Michigan, Penn and Syracuse in addition to its Towson setbacks.

Season highlight: Probably Robinson extending the Blue Hens’ season by a couple days when he scored a tying goal with 68 seconds left in a CAA semifinal against Fairfield, then won it 38 seconds into overtime.

Verdict: Delaware’s attempt to win a third consecutive CAA title ended quietly, and it didn’t defeat a team that finished in the top 40 of the RPI. Considering the 2022 Blue Hens stunned Georgetown in the NCAA tournament and last year’s team nearly did the same to Duke in the postseason, this season was a step back.