Garden City, N.Y. - For the first time since 2017, Adelphi men's lacrosse is headed back to the NCAA Division II Semifinals, following a 14-9 win over third-seeded Pace University on Sunday afternoon.
After a slow start for the top-seed, the Setters (13-4) jumped out to a two-goal lead but were quickly quieted when Adelphi's offense got on track and scored three straight to win the frame. With one-second on the clock,
Logan Tucker shovel-passed a shot past Jack Kern to give the hosts the advantage heading into the second.
It took nearly five minutes, but the Panthers (15-2) stretched their lead to two on the back of a
Jack Hipchen tally. Trading goals, Pace still trailed by two going in to the halftime break.
An absolutely electric third quarter saw a 5-7 performance from X for Adelphi, an area that they've struggled all season. Consistent possessions allowed the attack to go to work including a pair of goals from
Kyle Lewis to successfully put the Setters on their heels - down five before the frame was through. With the help of a defenseman stripping Rafael Rodriquez, Jr. of the ball, Tucker was able to score the home team's tenth goal of the contest, as
Michael D'Alessandro brought it all the way down field and ended up in the offensive third. D'Alessandro finished with four caused turnovers and five ground balls - both season-highs.
It seemed like every time Pace was in their attacking third, the defense was wreaking havoc or
Dylan Renner was getting a stop. In the team's 13 straight win, the program has also held each opponent to single-digit scoring.
Pace got the first two goals in the fourth to cut the deficit to two, but following a slew of shots early on, the Panthers finally saw two straight land in the back of the cage as
Braden Donnellan and
Kyle Lewis made it an 8-12 contest with under seven to play.
Another faceoff win for the Setters allowed them to charge to the goal and score but the damage was already done. Tucker added another and
Jason Rebaudo scored in a man-down possession, all while Renner continued stopping shots to keep Pace off the board. He finished with 15 saves in the victory.
The Cats will host the semifinal round on Sunday, May 19 at 1:00 p.m. - their opponent? Saint Anselm, who defeating no. 2 Mercy College also on Sunday. This will mark the third time this season that the two teams have met, since April 20. All one-goal victories, the Panthers took the latest matchup to capture the program's fifth Northeast-10 Conference title.
