Garden City, N.Y. - A stretch of seven unanswered goals helped propel the Adelphi University men's lacrosse team to a 13-7 victory earlier tonight against Saint Anselm in the Northeast-10 Conference Championship Quarterfinal round. In the process, the Panthers (12-4) advance to face Merrimack in the NE-10 Semfinal round this Friday in North Andover, Mass.

Trailing 5-3 in the second period, the Brown and Gold went on a 7-0 run throughout the second, third and fourth periods to build a 10-5 lead. Chris Racalbuto scored a man-up goal with 3:02 left in the first half to start the stretch followed by a tally from Gordon Purdie, Jr. at the 1:45 mark to tie the game at 5-5 off the Paul Bentz assist. Bentz recorded the go-ahead strike with one second remaining to give the Panthers the lead for good as Anthony DeLuca assisted on the play.

A 3-0 third period helped increase the lead for the Brown and Gold to 9-5 as Luke Spitzer, Travis Wahl, and Anthony Gomes all accounted for the scoring. The seven-goal stretch was capped off in the early parts of the fourth period as Purdie scored just 16 seconds into the final period, giving Adelphi a 10-5 advantage.

Saint Anselm scored twice in the fourth period, however, four goals in the period that included Puride's strike secured the 13-7 final for the Panthers. Purdie led the Brown and Gold with two goals and two assists while Racalbuto and Salvatore Tuttle each posted two goals. John English finished 16-for-19 from the face off circle to go along with 11 ground balls. In addition to a goal, Spitzer added three ground balls and two caused turnovers. John McGrath picked up the victory in net with nine saves.

In the final seconds of the contest Adelphi's Matt Schmelzinger was given an opportunity to honor high school teammate and friend Ed Blatz, Jr., a member of the Georgetown lacrosse program who passed away unexpectedly on Sunday. The Panthers turned over Saint Anselm with 30 seconds to go and with the clock ticking down Schmelzinger found the ball in his stick and went to goal, scoring as time expired. "When I scored I felt that Eddie was looking down on me and I truly felt that he was smiling down on me," said Schmelzinger when asked about the goal. "My friend continues to look out for me, just like he always has."

The Panthers and the Warriors are set for a 4:00 pm start time this Friday with a trip to the NE-10 Championship Final on the line.

Notes:
- Adelphi has won the last two NE-10 Championships after defeating Le Moyne last season and Merrimack in 2014.
- Merrimack upended the Panthers 18-14 earlier this season on Saturday, April 2.

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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 20 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.

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