Sept. 13, 2003

Box Score

Garden City, N.Y. - Adelphi topped the Orangemen of Syracuse University today in the second overtime on a goal from senior Sigurd Riksfjord (Molde, Norway). In a very hard fought match that Syracuse seemed to control the Panthers came out on top. Senior Tom Cunningham (Farmingdale, N.Y.) made the first start of his career for Adelphi and collected six saves as well as the win, which came after a tough loss to Seton Hall last Wednesday.

The comments of captain and senior Gary Sullivan (West Islip, N.Y.) best sum up the game. "It wasn't a pretty game, but it was a pretty result. It was a battle, mentally, it came down to which team was going to stay mentally tough throughout the game and we did." Over the 101 minutes of play, seven cautions were given and over 50 fouls were called.

Syracuse struck first, converting a penalty kick in the 51st minute of play. The Orangemen had been pressuring the Panther defense for much of the match and finally seemed to have broken through when Ilias Calaitzidis (Brossard, Quebec) was fouled in the penalty box by Sullivan. Sullivan received a yellow card for the infraction and Calaitzidis was awarded a penalty kick, which he placed in the left corner of the goal just out of Cunningham's reach.

Minutes after the Syracuse goal, Kirk Johnson collected a through ball and was in past the Panther defense leaving him a 1-1 with the goalie. Cunningham came out to meet Johnson and made an outstanding 1-1 stop to prevent the possible go ahead goal.

Momentum seemed to turn in the last 20 minutes of the second half, and Adelphi put pressure on Syracuse's defense. Syracuse defense finally faltered in the 73rd minute when Tal Sheinfeld (Even Yehoda, Israel) was pulled down in the penalty box and Adelphi was awarded a penalty kick. Freshman Jose Castillo (Mineola, N.Y.) converted the shot to knot the score a 1-1.

The first overtime was a back and forth affair with neither team really getting any solid chances at goal. But in beginning of the second overtime senior Marlon Clarke (Brooklyn, N.Y.) collected a ball on his chest, turned and played a beautiful ball to Riksfjord, which he put past Syracuse goalie Alin Karim (Scarborough, Ontario) for the game winner. "I felt good and wanted to come back (from an injury) strong," Riksfjord said. "I was hungry for a goal."

When asked about the game and the first start of his career Cunningham said "We were coming off a bad loss (to Seton Hall) and today was a team effort, everyone played hard and we came back with a win."

Syracuse registered eight shots in the first half to just five in the second half and overtimes combined thanks to strong defense from Sullivan, sophomore Tal Lahav (Moshav Haniel, Israel), and senior Matt Sether (Garden City, N.Y.).

When asked about the (6-0) loss to Seton Hall and today's victory,Sullivan said "Today's game was a good test for our team, every team is going to go through tough games, it's what you do next that counts, and we showed a lot of positive qualities today."

With the win Adelphi improves to 2-1-1 overall, while Syracuse drops to 1-2-1 on the season.

The Panthers return to action on Wednesday, September 13th at 4 pm against Stony Brook on Stiles Field.