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Ben DeLuca
Head coach Ben DeLuca enters the 2024 campaign after the Blue Hens won their second straight Colinial Athletic Assocation regular season and tournament title. During the two year stretch, the Blue Hens have won 26 games.
DeLuca joined the University of Delaware as the head coach of the men’s lacrosse program in 2017. He has enjoyed national success as a student-athlete, assistant coach and head coach throughout his career.
He is just the ninth coach in the 74-year history of the sport at the University of Delaware.
Upon his hiring, Delaware Director of Athletics, Community, and Campus Recreation Chrissi Rawak said:
“I am so excited to have Ben and his family as part of our Blue Hens family. Ben believes strongly in the pursuit of excellence on and off the field and embodies the core values that drive the decisions we make every day in Delaware Athletics. He brings to us an incredible knowledge of the game of lacrosse and an understanding that the University of Delaware is a very special place. We have such a passionate group of Delaware lacrosse alumni and I know Ben will build a strong connection with them. There is absolutely no doubt that Ben makes our men's lacrosse program, this department, and this University better.”
DeLuca’s impact on the Blue Hens has been immediate and remarkable during his first five years at the helm of the program.
He’s led Delaware to three double-digit win seasons in his first five full seasons, making him the first head coach in the history of the program to accomplish that feat. Additionally, he’s led the Blue Hens to five straight CAA Tournament appearances and six consecutive winning seasons at Delaware Stadium.
In 2023 DeLuca was named CAA Coach of the Year and helped led the Blue Hens to a back-to-back CAA Championship with a win over Stony Brook. With another 13-win season, with an overall record 13-5 hens made it back to the NCAA tournament making it to the second round after a win against Marist 25-10. Delaware was ranked 2nd in the NCAA for total goals (254) and scoring margin (5.65). The Blue Hens brought home two major awards. Ty Kurtz was CAA Offensive Player of the Year and Owen Grant was named CAA Defensive Player of the Year. Grant was the first Blue Hen ever to win three Defensive Player of the Year awards in a row and the first Blue Hen since Jon Grant to achieve First-Team All-American status. Along with Grant, Kurtz received All-American recognition as well.
The 2022 campaign under DeLuca was one of the most successful seasons in program history. The program’s 13 wins was the most in 15 years. The Blue Hens went on to defeat Townson in the CAA finals, and were crowned tournament champions for the first time since 2011. In the NCAA tournament, the Blue Hens picked up multiple wins against Robert Morris and No. 2 Georgetown en route to an appearance in the quarterfinals. It was the program’s first NCAA tournament win and appearance in the quarterfinals since 2007.
With the success from the 2022 season, Owen Grant, Tye Kurtz and Jake Govett were selected in the first round of the 2022 National Lacrosse League draft. It is the first time the Blue Hens had multiple athletes selected in the first round in the program’s history. Grant was selected third overall by the Vancouver Warriors, Kurtz was selected 17thoverall to the Albany FireWolves, and Jake Govett was selected 22nd overall to the San Diego Seals.
Since taking over the program, DeLuca has coached 24 All-CAA performers and five conference major award winners. He has additionally guided five Blue Hens who went on to earn USILA All-American honors. DeLuca’s impact on the academic achievement of his student-athletes has been equally impressive, resulting in program records for highest overall semester, year and cumulative team grade point average while producing two USILA Scholar All America selections.
On the field, DeLuca has had Delaware’s defense ranked inside the top-20 in the country over the past five seasons, while its offense has made major strides and finished inside the top-20 during the 2021 campaign. The Blue Hens were one of eight teams to finish in the top-20 on both offense and defense in the 2022 campaign.
The Blue Hens enjoyed a historic 2021 season under DeLuca’s watch. Delaware finished the year with a 10-3 overall mark and a 7-1 record in conference play en route to being crowned the outright CAA regular season champions for the first time in program history. The three losses on the year were the fewest in program history, in a season with at least 10 games played, since 1999. The Blue Hens also set the CAA record for the most conference wins in a single season.
DeLuca had the Blue Hens clicking all season long as they were one of just seven Division I teams to finish inside the top-20 in scoring offense and scoring defense. He guided Charlie Kitchen ’21 and Owen Grant to USILA All-American honors, marking the first time since 2010 that two Blue Hens earned the national recognition in the same season. Six Blue Hens collected All-CAA honors, while Owen Grant became the program’s first-ever defensive player of the year. Mike Robinson earned the rookie of the year nod, the second consecutive season that a Blue Hens rookie captured the honor under DeLuca.
In a shortened 2020 season, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, DeLuca had the Blue Hens off to a 4-2 start to the year. The defense was one of the best in the nation, ranking ninth in Division I in goals allowed and 11th in caused turnovers per tilt. Thomas Aloe was selected as the Colonial Athletic Association Scholar-Athlete of the Year and also honored as the CAA Leadership & Sport Excellence Award winner. Jake Hervada was honored as the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar Award.
In 2019, the Blue Hens set a program record with seven student-athletes earning All-CAA Accolades. Tye Kurtz became the program’s first CAA Rookie of the Year since 2004, while Charlie Kitchen was named the CAA Player of the Year. Matt DeLuca (no relation) earned the program’s first All-American honor since 2011, ranking in the top-10 in both saves per game and save percentage.
In 2018, five student-athletes earned All-CAA accolades with Dean DiSimone, Austin Haynes and Charlie Kitchen earning first team recognition, while Matt DeLuca and Will Hirschmann were named to the second team.
Off the field, the Blue Hens were heavily involved in the community, working with the Mario St. George Boiardi Foundation, the B+ Foundation, the One Love Foundation, being weekly participants at a children’s literacy program at nearby McVey Elementary and working with the Ferris School for an annual series of lacrosse clinics.
As a team, the Blue Hens earned over a 3.0 cumulative grade point average, marking the first time in program history that had been accomplished.
In addition, Will Hirschmann was named the recipient of the 2018 Edgar Johnson Award, given to the male senior letter winner at Delaware who has exhibited the qualities of hard work, dedication, leadership, fairness and striving for excellence.
“My family and I want to thank President (Dennis) Assanis and Chrissi Rawak for this special opportunity and for the trust they have showed in inviting us to share in their mission to lead the renaissance of this great program together,” said DeLuca. “I agree wholeheartedly with Chrissi's vision of comprehensive excellence in all facets of the student-athlete experience. We want to be great in the sport of lacrosse, but we want to be excellent in the classroom and leaders in the community as well. I take very seriously my role as an educator, mentor, and role model and will lead our central mission to develop young men into men and prepare them for life after college. Our program aspires to produce polished, accomplished, admirable men who will graduate and become ambassadors for the University of Delaware and Blue Hen Lacrosse. Hard work, integrity, character and a passion for greatness will be the hallmarks of our program. Well done is better than well said, and here at the University of Delaware we believe our actions will speak louder than our words."
DeLuca came to Delaware with an impressive history of success as a student-athlete and coach at three of the nation's top academic and NCAA Division I lacrosse-playing institutions - Cornell University, Duke University, and Harvard University. During that time, he led teams to 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, including a national championship title as an assistant at Duke, a national runner-up finish as an associate head coach at Cornell, and three other NCAA semifinal appearances as a head coach and as an assistant.
Throughout his twenty-one-year coaching career, DeLuca has recruited, developed and shared in the success of teams which produced a multitude of All-America selections including well more than a dozen First Team honorees. He has coached over forty First Team All-Ivy League selections, several First-Team All-CAA and All-ACC selections, three Ivy League Rookie of Year selections, two CAA Rookie of the Year selections, seven Ivy League Player of the Year honorees, a pair of Lt. Raymond Enners Award winners (USILA Outstanding Player – Div. 1), an En. C.M. Kelly Award winner (USILA Outstanding Goaltender – Div. 1), a Schmeisser Cup award winner (USILA Outstanding Defenseman – Div. 1), three recipients of the Lt. j.g. Donald MacGlaughlin, Jr. Award (USILA Outstanding Midfielder – Div. 1), two Jack Turnbull Award winners (USILA Outstanding Attackman – Div. 1), and a pair of Tewarraton Award winners. DeLuca has guided defensive All-America honorees at four different institutions. Under DeLuca's tutelage, Rob Pannell graduated after breaking a handful of Cornell, Ivy League and NCAA records, becoming the all-time leading scorer in Division I history (354), as well as the Cornell all-time assist leader (204).
DeLuca has invested in development of the young men under his guidance outside the realm of lacrosse as well, spearheading several lasting team community service endeavors, mentoring numerous Academic All-CAA, Academic All-Ivy and Academic All-ACC selections, more than a dozen USILA Academic All-America selections, multiple ESPN / CoSIDA Academic All-America selections, and a pair of Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award winners.
In the community, DeLuca's student-athletes have been heavily involved in the community, volunteering with such organizations as the Mario St. George Boiardi Foundation, B+ Foundation, One LOVE Foundation, HEADstrong Foundation, American Cancer Society, the American Red Cross, Children's Dream Factory of Central New York, Family Reading Partnership of Central New York, children's literacy, Team Impact, and the Army Ranger Lead the Way Fund.
DeLuca came to Delaware after two years serving as the Associate Head Coach at Harvard University. In his first season, DeLuca helped lead the Crimson to the Ivy League Championship game after knocking off top-seeded and No. 2 ranked Brown in the semifinals. At the conclusion of the year, three Crimson student-athletes were named to the USILA All-America teams, with a total of six individuals garnering All-Ivy League honors. In 2016, one Crimson player was recognized with USILA honors and three others earned All-Ivy League honors.
Prior to his time in Cambridge, DeLuca spent two seasons as an assistant coach and defensive coordinator under John Danowski at Duke University, helping the Blue Devils to the 2014 National Championship and the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season championship. DeLuca coached four defensive All-America honorees in his first season in Durham.
DeLuca began his coaching career at his alma mater and was an integral part of restoring the Cornell lacrosse program back to the upper echelon of Division I lacrosse during his time as an Assistant Coach, Recruiting Coordinator, Defensive Coordinator, Associate Head Coach and Head Coach. In total, DeLuca spent 17 years at Cornell, including four years as a player for the Big Red before serving as an assistant coach for two seasons. A brief two-year hiatus took DeLuca away from Ithaca and into the business world, but he returned in the summer of 2002 and he was promoted to the top assistant position and recruiting coordinator in the summer of 2003. He became the first Mario St. George Boiardi Assistant Coach of Men's Lacrosse the following year and was promoted to Associate Head Coach following the 2007 season. His efforts helped to guide the Big Red to nine NCAA Tournament appearances from 2004 to 2013. Cornell competed in four NCAA national semifinal games, a national championship game and captured ten Ivy League Championships in eleven years during that span. DeLuca was named as the IMLCA Assistant Coach of the Year in 2007.
In his first season serving as Cornell’s Head Coach, DeLuca led the Big Red to a 14-3 record and became only the second coach in the history of the Ivy League to post an undefeated Ivy record in his first season, joining Ned Harkness (Cornell, 1966). After subsequently leading the Big Red to their first Ivy League Tournament Championship in program history, DeLuca became the first coach in the history of the Ivy League to lead his team to an 8-0 record in conference play as well as the first coach in Cornell history to lead the Big Red to the NCAA tournament in his first season.
The following year in 2012, despite losing Rob Pannell, the reigning USILA National Player of the Year, in just the second game of the season, DeLuca guided the Big Red as high as No. 3 in the national rankings and captured the program’s historic 700th win in program history over upstate rival Syracuse. Cornell finished with a 9-4 record overall and a mark of 4-2 record in the league, good for a second-place finish in the league standings while advancing to the Ivy League Tournament semifinals.
In 2013 DeLuca led Cornell to an outstanding 14-4 record overall, losing three regular season games by a single goal. Cornell advanced to the NCAA Final Four with convincing playoff wins over the 6th and 3rd ranked teams in the country before falling in the National Semifinal to eventual National Champion Duke by 2 goals. Twelve student-athletes earned All-America recognition under DeLuca's tutelage, including five first team selections.
DeLuca’s overall record as Cornell’s Head Coach was 37-11 (.771), and 16-2 (.889) in Ivy League play.
DeLuca has gained invaluable international coaching experience representing the United States as a member the U.S. Men’s National Team staff. DeLuca served as the Assistant General Manager for the 2018 U.S. Men’s National Team that captured the gold medal in the Federation of International Lacrosse World Championships in Netanya, Israel. DeLuca was primarily responsible for coaching the goaltenders and face-off unit while assisting Head Coach John Danowski in all facets of the game. DeLuca also served as an evaluator and scouting consultant for the 2014 USMNT that earned the silver medal in the FIL World Championships in Denver, Colorado in 2014.
A four-year letter winner on defense for the Big Red, DeLuca played for three years under legendary coach Richie Moran, before becoming a captain his senior year under former head coach Dave Pietramala. He was voted as the team's Outstanding Senior Athlete for his leadership and dedication on and off the field, and was also honored with the Rick LaFrance Award given to the student-athlete who best combines mental and physical toughness along with honor and bravery despite injury. DeLuca earned a Bachelor of Science degree in nutritional sciences and biochemistry in 1998.
A native of Rochester, N.Y, DeLuca is married to the former Laurie Tortorelli, a former All-American goaltender and captain for the women's lacrosse team at the University of Delaware. Laurie was a four-year starter in goal in 1999-2002 and led the Hens to the NCAA Tournament in 2000 and an America East conference title in 1999. She still ranks No. 2 all-time at Delaware with 754 saves and No. 3 in minutes played (3,767).
The DeLucas have two daughters, Elizabeth (10) and Anne (8).
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