Nov. 5, 2006

Box Score |Photo Gallery

Garden City, N.Y. - The Adelphi University men's soccer team scored three first half goals to hold off a late surge by Florida Atlantic to capture its first Atlantic Soccer Conference title with a 3-2 victory. The Panthers (11-6-1) earn an automatic NCAA bid and await championship selections to be announced tomorrow afternoon.

Adelphi got on board early as freshman Keith Rock (Dublin, Ireland) sent a cross to junior Oliver Skelding (Syndey, Australia). Skelding fired a shot from 20 yards out high above the hands of FAU goalkeeper Phillip Lamarre (Margate, Fla.) at 11:54. The Panthers next goal came in the 25th minute as Val Charalambous' (Larnaka, Cyprus) corner kick was bobbled by Lamarre. Rock was there for the rebound, chipping the ball in for the goal to put AU up, 2-0. With less than a minute remaining in the first half, sophomore Patrick Figueiredo (Compinas, Brazil) tallied what would prove to be the game-winner on a header off of an indirect free kick by Charalambous at 44:16. The Panthers carried a 3-0 lead into half-time.

FAU picked up the intensity in the second half. A caution on the Panthers in the 53rd minute led to a penalty kick for the Owls. Junior Diego Monsalve (Lima, Peru) collected the goal to put Florida Atlantic on board. Less than five minutes later sophomore Shire Standnes (Oslo, Norway) closed the gap on a cross from senior Borce Ancevski (Lake Worth, Fla.) at 56:23.

In a physical battle that saw 49 fouls, nine cautions and one red card, the Panthers defense, holding the Owls scoreless for the remaining 34 minutes of play.

"We are very excited and very proud of our team today," Head Coach Bob Montgomery said. "We set goals this season, worked hard and made sacrifices to achieve everything we set out to do. We won the [ASC] title, hosted the tournament and now we are going to NCAA's. The team chemistry carried us through and we have all learned a valuable lesson."

Senior Michael Hurley (Freeport, N.Y.) made five saves in goal for the Panthers while Lamarre had four saves.

The 2006 NCAA Division I men's soccer championship selections will be announced on ESPNews, Monday, November 6 between 4 and 5 p.m. (ET). In addition, the bracket will be posted on www.ncaasports.com after the selection show.

This will be the first NCAA appearance for Adelphi in 15 years. The 11 wins this season is also the most for the Panthers since 1992 when they finished 11-6-2. Adelphi also qualified for the NCAA's that year, falling to Penn State, 2-1, in the first round.

ASC All-Tournament Team
Ron Forman, Adelphi
Marlon Bennett, Adelphi
Michael Hurley, Adelphi
Oliver Skelding, Adelphi
Patrick Figueiredo, Adelphi
Phillip Lamarre, Florida Atlantic
Ryan Kinsley, Florida Atlantic
Shire Standnes, Florida Atlantic
Matt Tomkins, Philadelphia University
Frederick Douglas, Philadelphia University

Offensive MVP: Ron Forman, Adelphi
Defensive MVP: Marlon Bennett, Adelphi