Syracuse, N.Y. - Consistency was key for the top-seeded Dolphins of Le Moyne College on Wednesday afternoon, scoring four goals in three quarters to take down the third-seed Adelphi University men's lacrosse team in the 2021 Northeast-10 Conference Semifinals at Ted Grant Field.
The Panthers (7-3) fell behind early as the Dolphins (11-0) scored three goals in a span of seven minutes, the last one coming after a penalty assessed to Adelphi.
John Arcidiacono broke the silence for the visitors at 3:08 to cut the lead to two but Le Moyne's Ben McCreary snuck one final tally in before the first quarter came to a close.
Both teams added four goals apiece in the second frame, with five of Erler's six saves coming before a swap in goal for Adelphi as
Kevin Rice took over for the remainder of the contest.
Joseph Duchnowski's goal at 1:49 in the second started a four-goal stretch for the Panthers that spanned into the third quarter. It was
Nicolas Racalbuto who netted back-to-back goals and ultimately the equalizer at 6:43 to even the score at eight-all.
The home team managed to add two more goals before time expired in the third, taking a two-goal edge into the final 15 minutes of action.
A tally from
Brian Harinski started the fourth frame and cut the lead to one, but shifty scoring from Le Moyne kept the visiting team at bay. A scrum at the midfield with less than ten minutes to play resulted in three penalties; two of which were issued to Adelphi. In the time that the penalties were being served, the Dolphins added two goals to extend their lead to four, as time continued to come off the clock.
Duchnowski, who finished with three points, added his second of the game with under a minute to play, but the deficit was too great to overcome.
The loss bounces the underdogs from the NE10 tournament and the team will await their fate in the NCAA Tournament with the selection show on Sunday, May 9. The show will air live at 7:30 p.m. EST on ncaa.com homepage. In the
latest regional rankings, the Panthers sit at no. 6 in the north.
