Garden City, N.Y. - Two first-half goals were enough to lead the 13th-ranked Adelphi University men's soccer team to a season-opening 2-1 victory over sixth-ranked LIU Post on Thursday night on Motamed Field.
The Panthers' annual season-opening tilt with their Long Island rival was a rematch of the game which ended Adelphi's season a year ago, as the Pioneers scored a 3-0 win in the third round of the NCAA Tournament in Charleston, W.Va. last November.
However, it was a new year, new look and new result for the Brown and Gold (1-0), and the Panthers held on in a scoreless second half for victory.
Just one Panther in Adelphi's lineup on Thursday night started in that contest - senior forward
James Thristino - and Adelphi's two scorers were a pair of key bench players from last year's team.
Junior
Taylor Kaczynski had a hand in both of Adelphi's tallies on the night, as he assisted on senior
Stephen Megaloudis' opening goal in the eighth minute, before scoring in the 15th minute himself to make it a 2-0 contest.
The assist on the second score went to Panther newcomer
Paolo Marciano, whose shot - one of 11 by Adelphi in the game - was initially saved by Pioneer keeper Oliver Hessner Hansen before Kaczynski buried it in the net.
Hessner Hansen made four saves in the contest overall, and he was out-dueled in net by
Matt Apicella, who made seven saves on 11 Pioneer shots. Apicella scored his first win in goal in nearly a year, as he appeared in two games in Adelphi's early campaign last season, and scored victories on Sept. 2 and Sept. 12.
Adelphi's junior keeper surrendered just one goal after being given the early lead, as the Pioneers' All-American and All-Region sophomore Lukas Ostermann scored in the 19th minute off a cross from Vittorio Argeri.
After 17 shots by both teams combined in the opening 45 minutes, the defenses clamped down, allowing just five shots total in the second half of action.
The Brown and Gold will look to round out its season-opening tournament with more non-conference action on Saturday night, as they take on the Georgian Court University Lions at 6 p.m.
About Adelphi Athletics
Adelphi University joined the Northeast-10 Conference in the fall of 2009, and in the past eight seasons, has collected 27 regular season conference titles, 29 tournament championships, 41 individual crowns and captured the Northeast-10 Presidents' Cup four times (2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017), while winning six 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.
