Tampa, FL – The fifth ranked Adelphi University men's lacrosse program opened the 2016 campaign by traveling to Tampa, Florida to take on #10 University of Tampa. The Panthers had four players score multiple goals, but it was not enough to overcome the Spartan offense, as Adelphi fell, 19-11.

Salvatore Tuttle and Anthony Gomes led the offense with three points each, Tuttle on three goals and Gomes on two and an assist. Cory Stavis and Gordon Purdie, Jr. both notched two tallies, while Chris Racalbuto and Shane Deboer had one each.

John English took 30 face-offs for the Brown and Gold, winning 17 and grabbed a game-high 14 ground balls. Brendan McDougal and Deboer managed to pick up four loose balls each and Gomes corralled three. John McGrath and McDougal both saw time in goal, making six stops each.

The pace in the first quarter was quick, but no one broke through until Purdie Jr. scored off a Gomes assist with 8:47 left on the clock, followed by a Tuttle unassisted effort just over a minute later, putting the Panthers up 2-0 early. Then both teams traded goals twice, before Tampa got back-to-back goals from Matt Vetter and Jake Schmidt, knotting the game at four with 1:10 remaining.

Four seconds  later Stavis answered to put Adelphi up one, but the Spartans scored with 49 seconds left and then with just 10 ticks on the clock, sending the Brown and Gold into the intermission trailing by one, 6-5.

Nothing seemed to bounce Adelphi's way in the second quarter as the hosts scored five straight goals, the final tally coming with 2:37 left in the second stanza, building a, 11-5 lead. However, the Panthers got some momentum late, getting a man-up goal with 2:14 left in the quarter out of the pocket of Racalbuto, making it a, 11-6 contest at the half.

Adelphi and Tampa seemed to settle into a pattern in the third quarter, with the hosts scoring and the Panthers answering. The sequence happened three times in a row, with Tuttle scoring his second of the game with 4:52 remaining in the frame, making it a 14-9 contest. However, Tampa answered back one more time, putting the Spartans on top, 15-9 heading into the final 15 minutes.

The hosts sandwiched the first two goals and the last two goals of the fourth quarter between two Brown and Gold tallies, handing Adelphi a 19-11 loss. Adelphi trailed in shots (38-42), ground balls (34-38), but won more face-offs (19-14).

Adelphi returns to action on Monday, February 22 at 4:00 pm when they travel to Lakeland, Florida to close out their southern swing against Florida Southern.

Notes:

• The last time that Adelphi opened the season with a loss was 2011, falling to Dowling 13-10
• In that 2011 season the Panthers rebounded to make a run to the National Championship.
• This marks our first loss to a Division II team from Florida, we were previously 1-0 with a win over St. Leo.

 

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About Adelphi Athletics:

Adelphi University joined the Northeast-10 Conference in the Fall of 2009 and in the past six seasons has collected 16 regular season conference titles, 20 tournament championships, 27 individual crowns and captured the Northeast-10 President's Cup twice (2013 and 2014), while winning five NCAA Division II National Championships.

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