Delaware and Saint Joseph's will again open the college lacrosse season. Because of the heavy snow expected to hit the mid-Atlantic region, the match has been moved from Saturday to 2:00 p.m. Friday at Finnesey Field on the campus of Saint Joseph's. These two squads usually meet in the first game of the season for Division I men's lacrosse, and Delaware holds a convincing 9-0 record in the series.

Delaware will be lead by All-American senior attackman Curtis Dickson, who had 45 points a year ago. The Hawks will rely on senior attackman Sean Evans, who notched 37 points last season.

On Saturday, first-year program Jacksonville plays its inaugural game when it hosts North Carolina at 2:30 p.m.. The Dolphins' roster consists of mostly freshman for head coach Matt Kerwick. The Tar Heels, led by second-year head coach Joe Breschi, return 28 lettermen from a squad that went 12-6 last year including preseason player of the year nominee Billy Bitter.

For more on the opening weekend of the college lacrosse season, see the Run and Gun podcast, which recaps the off-season and previews the upcoming games.

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PHILADELPHIA -- The University of Delaware men's lacrosse team will be looking to return to a familiar place in the post-season this spring as the Blue Hens open the 2010 season this Friday, Feb. 5, with a non-league game at Saint Joseph's at 2:00 p.m. at Finnesy Field.

The game, originally scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 6, was moved ahead a day due to the threat of a major snowstorm expected to hit the region in the late afternoon on Friday. The contest will be the first NCAA Division I men's lacrosse game in the nation and one of only three being played this weekend.

The Delaware vs. Saint Joseph's matchup for the season opener has become a tradition for both teams as the squads will meet to kickoff the season for the eighth straight season. The Blue Hens have dominated their future Colonial Athletic Association foes, having won all nine games overall in the series with an average win margin of 9.0 goals per game. Delaware captured last season's opener with a 13-2 victory in Newark.

Both squads will be looking to bounce back from sub-.500 seasons in 2009 as the Blue Hens, who advanced all the way to the NCAA Final Four in 2007, went just 5-10 a year ago and failed to make the CAA Tournament for the first time since the 2003 campaign. The Hawks are coming off a 6-9 record a year ago but won two of their final three games. Saint Joseph's, which will join the CAA next season, is looking for its first winning season since 2000 when the team went 9-4.

Delaware, which was picked No. 3 in the pre-season CAA Coaches poll and earned votes in the U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Pre-Season Top 20 rankings, welcomes back 28 letterwinners and eight of its top 10 scorers from a year ago. The Hens posted a 10-1 win over Colgate, a perennial contender in the Patriot League and the No. 20 pick in the pre-season USILA poll, in a pre-season scrimmage last week.

Delaware, led by 35th year head coach Bob Shillinglaw, will host seven home games this season, beginning with the Feb. 13 game vs. Presbyterian. The Hens will play the other six games in 22,000-seat Delaware Stadium where a new FieldTurf surface was installed this winter.

The Hens, who have made two trips to the NCAA Tournament over the last six seasons, return a solid nucleus this spring led by All-American senor forward Curtis Dickson and All-CAA standouts in senior midfielder Martin Cahill, junior defender Pat Dowling, junior midfielder Kevin Kaminski, and senior faceoff specialist Tommy Lee.

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2010-02-04