Garden City, N.Y. - The defense stepped up for the fifth-ranked Adelphi University men's lacrosse team on Saturday, causing 13 turnovers against the Purple Knights of Saint Michael's on Motamed Field to lead the Brown and Gold to a 16-9 victory.

The win, Adelphi's seventh in a row, raises the Panthers to 7-1 overall and keeps them unbeaten in the Northeast-10 at a league-leading 5-0, while the visitors fell to 2-5 overall and continue to search for their first conference win at 0-4.

The defensive effort was led by Luke Spitzer, who had a game-high four caused turnovers. Joe Giardina and Shane Deboer caused two turnovers each, and five other players were credited with at least one casued miscue. John English continued his winning ways at the face-off "X", coming out on top in 19 of his 23 attempts and grabbing a game-high 13 ground balls.

Adelphi's offensive effort was led by the attack trio of Salvatore Tuttle, Cory Stavis and Gordon Purdie, Jr. Together, they combined for 14 points on nine goals and five assists, led by Tuttle with five goals and one assist, while Stavis added three goals and two assists and Purdie, Jr. chipped in one goal and two helpers. Anthony Gomes was the only other player with more then two points, scoring once on a cannon from 10 yards out, and earning two assists for three points. John McGrath was credited with his seventh win of the season as he made four stops in net, and teammate Brendan McDougal made five saves in 17 minutes of relief action. 

Purdie, Jr. kicked off the scoring in a tightly contested first quarter, 2:11 into the contest off a feed from Gomes, followed by a tally from Anthony DeLuca just 2:06 later to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead just over four minutes into the quarter. However, at the eight-minute mark Saint Michael's got on the board, courtesy of Taylor Wallace, 2-1. 

The scoring settled down over the next six minutes, but Adelphi broke through the Purple Knight defense for the third time in the first 15 minutes when Tuttle was credited with his first goal of the game with 2:25 left on the clock to put the Panthers on top, 3-1, which is how the first stanza ended.

The second quarter of action was a back and forth affair with a combined nine goals, as six of those were scored by Adelphi. The Brown and Gold wasted no time, scoring three times in the first 2:11 of the second to push their margin from 3-1 to 6-1. The visitors found the back of the home net, but Adelphi responded with another three goal barrage, which ended on a tally from Gomes, to make it a 9-2 game with 6:43 to play.

Those final six minutes belonged to the Purple Knights, as they scored twice and kept the Panthers scoreless to send the game to halftime with the hosts on top, 9-4. After the intermission, Adelphi put on a show by scoring four straight goals -- three by Tuttle and two on fast breaks -- to extend their margin to 13-4 with 10:34 remaining in the third quarter.

Saint Michael's again stemmed the tide with a goal, this was credited to Brian Loughlin, but with 66 seconds left in the quarter Tuttle scored his fifth and final goal to send the game to the final 15 minutes with the Panthers on top, 14-5. The Purple Knights doubled up the hosts, 4-2 in the final stanza, but it was too little too late, as Adelphi walked away with a 16-9 win.

The Panthers return to the field on Saturday, April 2 when they travel to North Andover, Massachusetts for a 12:00 pm meeting with fourth ranked Merrimack College. 

NOTES:
- English leads the country in face-off win percentage, winning 74.9% of his attempts and is second in the nation in ground balls per game (10.29).
- Tuttle leads the nation in points per game, averaging 6.29 points per contest.
- Adelphi's current seven-game win streak is their longest since they opened the season with a 13 game win streak in 2014.

---

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.