Oct. 10, 2008

Garden City, N.Y. - The Panthers played host to conference rivals, Houston Baptist tonight at Competition Field on a cool, calm evening. The Panthers got out to an early 1-0 in the first half on a corner kick and then further extended the lead to two in the second half. They wouldn't look back as they picked up their first conference win and seventh straight game to advance their record to 7-4, 1-0 while Houston Baptist falls to 5-4, 0-1.

Within the first five minutes of the first half, Adelphi capitalized on an early corner taken by junior Val Charalambous and headed in by senior Kemale Preston for the early lead. A few minutes later, a Preston header from senior Patrick Figueiredo beat Husky keeper Chris Dodd in what would have been a two goal lead, but was called offsides to hold the game at 1-0. Heading into the second half, the Panthers held a one goal lead while their defense did not allow a single Husky shot on goal.

The Huskies, in the 53rd minute, had a close opportunity to score when George Sangira got behind the Panther defense and sailed the ball toward the net but was deflected off of the right post. Adelphi came back with a scoring opportunity of their own just three minutes later when Figueiredo dribbled down the left side of the field to take a shot that went just wide of the goal. Another opportunity would arise again for the Panthers as junior Alexander Kouznetsov sent a pass up the middle to a waiting Figueiredo who used his speed to cut up the middle and, this time, find the back of the net to put his team up 2-0 with less than eleven minutes left. The Huskies would not close the gap as they faced their first conference loss.

Panther goalie Thorne Holder recorded the shutout while Dodd tallied two saves.

The Panthers return to action on October 14 when they travel to west to face Columbia University in a non-conference matchup. The game is slated for a 7 pm start.