Manchester, N.H. - The Adelphi offense found its groove in the second quarter, putting a ripple in the back of the Southern New Hampshire net seven times on the way to a 21-8 victory over the host Penmen in a Northeast-10 Conference contest on Saturday afternoon.
The sixth-ranked Panthers had 13 different players score in the win, improving to 6-1 overall and remaining unbeaten in conference action at 4-0. The Adelphi offensive eruption sent Southern New Hampshire to a 1-3 overall mark and kept the Penmen searching for a NE-10 victory at 0-2.
Salvatore Tuttle led the Brown and Gold's high-powered offense with a team-high five points on three tallies and two assists. Offensive running mates
Cory Stavis and
Gordon Purdie, Jr. helped the trio post a combined 10 goals, thanks to four from Stavis and three more from Purdie, Jr.
Tom Nuckel,
Shane Deboer,
Paul Bentz and
Michael Osmundsen had strong showings in the midfield, led by Nuckel's two goals and assist. Deboer added two helpers, while both Bentz and Osmundsen managaed one tally and one assist each.
John English turned in another overpowering performance at the face-off "X" winning 17 of his 20 attempts and gobbling up 19 ground balls.
Matt Schmelzinger and Mark Anderjack proved capable in relief of English, winning 5 of 5 attempts and 3 of 6, respectively.
Luke Spitzer paced the defense, causing one turnover and grabbing a ground ball. The victory, his sixth of the season, was credited to
John McGrath, who made three stops in 39 minutes of action.
Brendan McDougal and
Nicholas Badaracco split the remaining 21 minutes in the cage, earning a combined nine saves.
The hosts seemed to catch Adelphi off guard at the start, putting the first point on the score board just 51 seconds into the game. However, the Panthers regrouped quickly and scored the next four goals of the first quarter, including answering the Penmen challenge just 59 seconds later off the stick of Purdie, Jr. The Adelphi offensive machine kept chugging forward in the second 15 minutes, adding five more goals in the start of the second quarter to push their run to nine total, 9-1. The final goal of the 9-0 run came with just 3:44 remaining in the half thanks to
Anthony Gomes. Southern New Hampshire momentarily stemmed the Adelphi tide, scoring their second goal of the contest with 2:18 left in the second stanza, 9-2.
However, the respite was short lived as Osmundsen and Tuttle tacked two more goals onto the Panther total, sending the game into halftime with the Brown and Gold on top, 11-2. The third and fourth quarters were a little more back and forth, but the nine point lead was too much for the Penmen to overcome, pacing Adelphi to a 21-8 victory.
The Panthers will face-off again on Saturday, March 26 when they welcome Northeast-10 partner Saint Michael's College to Garden City for a 12:00 pm contest on Motamed Field.
NOTES- Adelphi has the three top goal scorers in the Northeast-10:
Salvatore Tuttle (22),
Gordon Purdie, Jr. (21) and
Cory Stavis (20).
- Tuttle also leads the conference in points and assists, at 44 and 22, while Purdie, Jr. is second in points with 27.
- This is the second time this season Adelphi has scored 20 goals or more in a game, which is amark the Panthers have not hit more then twice in a season since 1999. That season Adelphi beat St. Andrews (21-5), Bentley (20-12), and West Chester (20-6) and won an NCAA Championship.
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, 21 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.For the latest on Adelphi University Athletics, follow the Panthers at www.aupanthers.com or via social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Snapchat.
