Garden City, N.Y. - In a rematch of the 2014 Northeast-10 Conference Tournament championship game, it was the Merrimack College Warriors who flipped the script and defeated the Adelphi University men's lacrosse team, 13-12 in overtime, on Saturday afternoon on Motamed Field. 

Adelphi (5-1, 3-1 NE-10) got four goals from Connor Duddy, while also getting two from Jack Cutrone and Salvatore Tuttle. John McGrath tallied 14 saves in the losing effort, while John English was nearly perfect on the face-off, winning 24 of 29 taken. Merrimack (5-0, 4-0 NE-10) was led by a six-goal effort by Tim Towler. 

Luke Spitzer took the Panthers' first shot of the contest just 17 seconds in, going one-on-one against Merrimack keeper Dom Madonna, but Madonna was up to the task and made the save. From there, Merrimack took advantage of several Adelphi turnovers and penalties to dominate the early time of possession; they were able to convert twice on these opportunities, with Tim Tower scoring two goals to put the visitors up, 2-0. 

The Panthers got on the board with 8:28 left in the first quarter, as Duddy tallied his first of the day off of an assist from Tuttle to cut the lead in half, 2-1, before Max Allen executed a shot down low that beat McGrath to give the visitors a 3-1 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Warriors dominated possession in the opening frame, out-shooting the Panthers 18-3. 

Just under four minutes into the second quarter, Nick Susko tallied his seventh goal of the season to again pull Adelphi to within on goal, 3-2. Kyle Guilbert and Tower picked up consecutive goals for the Warriors, putting the visitors ahead by three, 5-2 with nearly five minutes to play in the second.

From there, however, Adelphi's offense came alive and the Panthers scored three goals in a 56-second span - courtesy of two from Cutrone and a man-up tally by Duddy - to even things at 5-5 with 4:14 to play. It would be the visitors who would lead at halftime, however, as Towler added another goal with just 19 seconds left to put his team in front, 6-5.

Adelphi edged ahead in the third quarter, scoring four goals to Merrimack's one to take a 9-7 lead. With the Warriors holding a one-goal, 7-6 lead with under two minutes to play, Travis Wahl scored a man-up goal before Patrick Starke added his first of the year and Duddy tallied his fourth of the day to put the Brown and Gold in front.

The Warriors started the fourth quarter hot on offense, scoring the first three goals to turn a two-goal deficit into a one-goal lead with just over 10 minutes to play. While Tuttle's first goal of the day with Adelphi down a man momentarily tied things, the visitors went ahead courtesy of Towler, who scored two goals to put Merrimack back ahead, 12-10.

In the reverse of last year's NE-10 title game, where the Panthers led 12-10 late only to see the Warriors tie it up and force overtime, Adelphi's comeback began when Tuttle scored his second of  the day unassisted with 4:36 to go. Just over two minutes later, Jamie McAndrew tied things up at 12-12 to ensure that this meeting between the two teams would be decided in the final minutes. 

When Joe Giardina was forced off the field with a penalty with 1:12 remaining, Adelphi found themselves down a man in the final seconds. However, McGrath was up to the task, stopping two point-blank shots from Guilbert and Jamie Shand to send the game to overtime. 

In extra time, the Panthers picked up possession after a faceoff win from English, but their offensive effort was stymied when Tuttle's two shots were first blocked and saved by Madonna. On the other end of the field, Tucker Schwarz's second goal of the game beat McGrath less than a minute and gave the visitors the 13-12 victory. 

The Panthers return to action on Tuesday, March 24, when they host Pace University in a 4 p.m. NE-10 contest.