Garden City, N.Y. - In the regular season finale, the no. 3 Adelphi men's lacrosse team came away with the 9-7 win over the no. 7 Bears of NYIT earlier this evening after coming back from an early 2-0 deficit. The Panthers (13-2, 10-1 NE10) used a combination of six players registering at least one point and strung together a four-goal third period to pull away from their counterparts. 

Gerard Cunningham, Chris Racalbuto, Ian Kirby and Nicolas Racalbuto all found the back of the cage twice while Shane Deboer registered a goal to complete the Panther scoring contingent. Gordon Purdie Jr. was the Brown and Gold's high point earner on the evening as he was credited with four assists; a mark that was also a game high. Mark Andrejack impressed on faceoffs, winning 14 out of 18 while cage minder Brendan McDougal recorded 10 saves in the win.

It took over 11 minutes into the first before either team got on the scoreboard. With the clock showing 3:36 the Bear's Tom Hughes finally broke the silence with an unassisted goal to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. NYIT began the second period the same way they ended the first, only this time the goal came from the stick of Leroy Halftown. Cunningham gave the Brown and Gold the boost they needed with back-to-back, unassisted scores to level the playing field at 2-2. Deboer tacked on the final goal before heading into halftime with Adelphi up 3-2.

It was a busy third quarter with a combined six goals between both sides. With the score knotted at 4-4, the Racalbuto brothers powered Adelphi to three unanswered goals within 1:01 of each other; Chris tallying the first and Nicolas getting assisted by Purdie Jr. on his two goals.

Heading into the final 15 minutes of action with a 7-4 cushion, Kirby scored what would be the game winner on a feed from Purdie Jr. just 2:26 into the quarter. NYIT notched the final two goals of the contest, but it was too little too late as the Panthers put the nail in the coffin and came away with their 13th win of the year.

With the #1 seed in the NE10, the Panthers earn a first round bye and will begin their campaign to a conference title on Friday, May 5 in the semifinal round.

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About Adelphi Athletics:
Adelphi University joined the Northeast-10 Conference in the fall of 2009 and in the past seven seasons, has collected 22 regular season conference titles, 25 tournament championships, 33 individual crowns and captured the Northeast-10 Presidents' Cup three times (2013, 2014, and 2016), 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.