Garden City, N.Y. - Adelphi men's lacrosse will get to chase its eighth national title after earning a berth to the program's 13th National Championship appearance, following a 12-9 victory over Saint Anselm College on Sunday afternoon.
Brian Harinski netted the Panthers (16-2) second tally of the game that put the hosts in the drivers' seat for the remainder of the game.
Logan Tucker scored back-to-back strikes to extend the lead to three as the opening frame came to a close. Following Adelphi's fourth goal, newcomer
Kyle Stark made his second appearance for the home team at the X and earned his first win in a Panther uniform. That set the stage for the game as he finished 7-for-16 in his debut.
Netminder
Dylan Renner stopped five shots in the first quarter en route to 17 for the game. to keep Saint Anselm off the board.
It was
Braden Donnellan's goal to start the second that pushed the lead to four, but the Hawks responded to break the silence at 10:53. After two more goals from the visitors brought the game within two, Adelphi managed to tack on two of their own to keep the Hawks at bay. Leading scorer Jack Andrews got the final word of the quarter but Saint A's still trailed by three heading into the break.
A scoreless third for Saint Anselm allowed Adelphi to run up the score, leading 10-4 after the frame concluded, despite a 3-1 advantage in faceoffs.
Eamon Hall was responsible for a pair of tallies in that stretch as Tucker added his hat trick goal to kick things off.
A six-goal edge proved beneficial heading into the fourth as a lopsided 5-2 battle won by Saint Anselm in the final frame saw them get as close as two. In a matter of 90 seconds, the Hawks peppered Renner with five shots, three of which he stopped. Sending the ball down field, Donnellan notched another goal to make the margin three and ultimately send the Panthers back to the Division II National Championship.
Adelphi returns to the national finals for the first time since 2011, and will take on Lenoir Rhyne - who beat Tampa on Sunday afternoon to earn the bid out of the south. The teams will meet for the second time this season, on Sunday, May 26 at Lincoln Financial Field at 4:00 p.m.
