Garden City, N.Y. - In what turned out to be a soaked Saturday evening, the Adelphi University men's lacrosse team punched it's ticket to the NCAA Division II Final Four, after coming out on the upper side of a 10-9 decision against #4 Pace University. The Panthers (15-3) bounced the Setters (12-4) from their first ever NCAA tournament run as they make it back to the Final Four for the first time since 2013. 

Gordon Purdie Jr. was responsible for a hat trick in the hosts third matchup with Pace this season. Nick Reisig netted two goals of his own, coupled with three caused turnovers on the other end of the field as five additional players each recorded a tally. Mark Andrejack was dominant at the faceoff, winning 18-of-22 and scooping up a team-high 11 ground balls. In goal for the Panthers, Brendan McDougal accounted for the same amount of goals allowed and saves, finishing with nine and the win. 

Starting things off for the Brown and Gold was Nicolas Racalbuto who got Adelphi on the board just 39 seconds in, as Reisig scored at the 11:14 mark to give the Panthers an early 2-0 edge. For Pace, Michael Pappalardo broke the silence and cut the deficit in half, but the home team maintained the advantage after adding two more goals down the stretch in the opening frame. The Setters capitalized on two man up possessions to end the first trailing by one and quickly evened the score with the first tally of the second. At the half, the teams were locked at five after trading a pair of goals, despite Adelphi holding an 11-1 advantage in faceoff wins. 

Pace took their first lead of the game in the third quarter with 4:14 left in the period when Joshua Kreitler finished a fast break, however Shane DeBoer knotted the game up at 7-7 at the 2:04 mark after picking up a loose ball in Adelphi's offensive zone and quickly fired to the top-left corner of the net. With a final 15 minutes to play in the contest Purdie Jr. netted his third of the game off a feed from Michael Osmundsen to give the Panthers an 8-7 lead early in the fourth.

The home team was able to extend that lead on an insurance goal from John Arcidiacono at10:49, but the Setters didn;t lay down easy. Pappalardo was responsible for a caused turnover which he marched down field and passed off, allowing Kreitler to score again and come within one of the top-seed. For the Panthers just two minutes later, Quintin McKenna fed Chris Racalbuto for his 18th goal of the season and tenth tally of the night. 

Another caused turnover for the Brown and Gold set up Liam Brennan scored with 3:48 left in the fourth to get the Setters back within a goal late. Pace recorded two more shots on goal but were unsuccessful as McDougal stopped them both, sending him and his team back to the Final Four. 

Adelphi will host NE10 rival Merrimack College on Saturday, May 20 in a 1:00 p.m. contest at Motamed Field. 

---

About Adelphi Athletics:
Adelphi University joined the Northeast-10 Conference in the fall of 2009 and in the past eight seasons, has collected 23 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.