Garden City, N.Y. - Despite playing shorthanded for the final 45 minutes, the No. 2 Adelphi University men's soccer team held on for a 2-1 win against American International College in a Northeast-10 Conference showdown Tuesday night at a rain-soaked Motamed Field in Garden City.

Leading 2-1 in the final minutes of the first half, a red card was issued to Adelphi's Tommy Speed in the 38th minute, forcing the Panthers (14-0-1, 9-0-1 NE10) to play with 10 men for the remainder of the contest.

That didn't stop Adelphi from getting a crucial three points in the NE10 standings though. The Panthers would face nine more shots after Speed's booking, but Matt Apicella thwarted the three attempts that came on target to secure the victory.

For only the fourth time this year, the Brown and Gold played from behind. AIC (7-5-2, 5-4-1 NE10) jumped out to the early lead just 2:49 into the match.

But like the previous three instances, Adelphi came back. The Panthers responded with a pair of first-half goals, only 2:40 apart, and brought a 2-1 advantage into the locker room.

The equalizer came off the foot of Tim de Meij in the 23rd minute. Off a free kick, de Meij ran onto a Mads Michaelsen pass and touched a shot by Yellow Jackets' graduate goalkeeper Ben Taylor for the tying goal.

Less than three minutes later, Adelphi was awarded a penalty kick, when Stephen Megaloudis was tripped up in the box. Megaloudis then stepped to the spot and converted on his penalty chance to give the Panthers the lead.

Apicella finished with three saves on the night for Adelphi. Senior forward Aidan Keenan led all Panthers with three shots on the evening.

Head Coach Gary Book and his Adelphi squad now have a date with No. 22 Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, N.H. on Saturday (Nov. 2), in a battle between the NE10's top two teams in the standings. Kickoff from Sodexo Field is set for 7 p.m.