Charleston, W. Va. — Head coach Gary Book and the Adelphi men's soccer team returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022 when they traveled to take on No. 4 seed Charleston (WV) in the second round.
The Golden Eagles started the game with a quick shot in the fourth minute, but Andrea Farinella was there to make the save.
The next ten minutes saw more chances from the home team, but none were on target. Slowly but surely, the Panthers began to find their footing offensively.
Adelphi focused on counterattacking and sending the ball down the sidelines. This led to a handful of chances and set pieces for the Cats, the best coming from the left foot of Sam Nolan in the 35th minute, but his free kick hit the crossbar.
Charleston responded with a long shot, but Farinella cleaned it up. The half would end scoreless, with the Golden Eagles holding a six-to-two edge in shots.
Just as they did at the beginning of the match, Charleston went down and had two quick chances at goal, but both were stopped by Farinella.
In the 57th minute, Ryan Holt sprung Rory Duggan free on the left wing, and Duggan swung a cross into the box that got past a Golden Eagle. Nolan ripped a shot on net, but the Charleston keeper made a clutch save to keep the game at 0–0.
Just three minutes later, Nolan had another shot in the box blocked, and the ensuing corner kick from Agustin Soldo was grabbed by the goalie.
Momentum was slowly starting to swing the Panthers' way as Charleston pushed their entire starting XI up toward midfield.
While Adelphi had its chances, the Golden Eagle defense, one of the best in the country, would not budge.
The Panthers kept their offensive pressure going, but in the 77th minute they had to clear a loose ball, which led to a Charleston throw-in. The quick opportunity put the Golden Eagles in a favorable position as the ball found its way to the middle of the box. A quick shot got past Farinella to give Charleston a 1–0 lead with 12 minutes to play.
Adelphi tried to get back into the game, but another loose ball trickled into the box just minutes later, and the home team extended its lead to two with less than 10 minutes remaining. That is where the score would stay, as the Adelphi men's soccer season came to a close in the NCAA Tournament.
