Garden City, N.Y. — Head coach Gary Book and the Adelphi men's soccer team took a break from conference play on Wednesday night when they played host to the College of Staten Island.
Staten Island started off hot, recording the first shot less than a minute into the game but from there, were not able to generate much offense.
The Panthers would have a lion's share of the possession, controlling the ball down the wings and passing it back when there was no open shot.
After subbing into the game, Pablo Herrera would make an immediate impact. In the 32nd minute, Adelphi would go tic-tac-toe to the Spanish native as a pass from Matthew Murphy would go to Benjamin Salas who put a perfect cross on Herrera's foot for the first goal of the match.
The Panthers' defense would stand tall and take a 1-0 lead into the half.
While the first half was relatively quiet outside of an Adelphi goal, the second half was when both teams found their legs. Just five minutes into the period an errant pass from the Panther defense would force a clearance from goalkeeper Gianluca Intranuovo but it clipped off a Dolphin and in front of the net for a CSI goal.
Although the game was now tied, the 'Cats kept their offensive intensity going and regained the lead less than five minutes later. Some stellar passing from Murphy and Alessio Consoli would send the ball to the freshman Salas who rocketed the ball into the top right corner of the net for a 2-1 lead.
The Brown and Gold kept moving forward as subs Richard DeBrosse and Luca Boast boosted the offense. In the 76th minute, Pablo Ablanedo would send the ball to Boast who sent a perfect through ball to Herrera who scored his second goal of the game.
With the Panthers being up 3-1, CSI woke up in the final ten minutes. The Dolphins sending all of their men towards the net would lead to a penalty which, thankfully for Adelphi, sailed high over the bar. CSI would strike just a minute later in the 86th minute, however, as a quick press led to an Adelphi own goal.
The Panthers would settle down in the final minutes sending the ball deep into the Dolphin zone and take home a 3-2 win.
Intranuovo made his college debut in the match and took home his first career win.
Salas recorded the first goal of his career as well as his first three points.
Adelphi outshot CSI 15-7 and held an eight to four edge in corner kicks.
The Panthers will return to pitch on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. when they travel to No. 10 ranked Franklin Pierce.
