Garden City, N.Y. — Head coach Gary Book and the Adelphi men's soccer team were back in the postseason on Saturday night, hosting No. 5 seed Southern Connecticut State at Motamed Field.
The start of the game was one to forget for the Panthers, as less than two minutes in, the Owls earned a free kick just outside the box. After some extracurriculars, Reyad Benmessaoud struck a sparkler to put his team ahead early.
Adelphi was unfazed and stuck to its game plan, pushing the ball upfield immediately after the goal. Just as they had done all season, the Panthers worked the ball to Rory Duggan on the wing, and he delivered a perfect pass to the right foot of Matthew Murphy, who buried the tying goal in the 15th minute.
The Panthers continued to push the tempo and looked poised to take the lead after a flurry of chances, but a rip from Stephen Betz rattled off the crossbar.
SCSU responded with a series of substitutions, and the adjustment paid off. Momentum swung toward the Owls, and just before halftime they were awarded a corner kick. The ball was delivered to the middle of the box, where Andrea Farinella made the initial save off a header, but Edward Mensah cleaned up the rebound to give Southern Connecticut State a 2-1 lead at the break.
The first half was physical, and the second only got chippier. Early in the period, with both teams battling for possession, Ryan Holt was denied by SCSU keeper Diego Flores in the 54th minute.
A key moment came in the 66th. With a ball in the air at midfield, SCSU's Jeremy Martin, already on a yellow card, made a hard challenge on Agustin Soldo. Without hesitation, he was shown a second yellow and sent off, swinging momentum in Adelphi's favor.
The Panthers capitalized just four minutes later. An errant pass from an Owls defender found Duggan, who took a few touches before chipping the ball over Flores to level the score.
Tensions heated up, and moments later Duggan was sent off, putting both teams at 10 men for the final 15 minutes. Adelphi had the wind in their sails completely taken out by the referee's decision as the game's momentum swung back to even.
The Panthers continued to look for quick attacks, but in the 81st minute Holt was denied again, keeping the match tied at two.
A minute later, disaster struck for Southern Connecticut State. On what appeared to be a routine pass back to the keeper, the Owls netminder stumbles as the ball drifted past him and into the net, giving Adelphi a late 3-2 lead.
Motamed Field erupted as the Owls pushed forward for a late equalizer. Benmessaoud had another free kick chance, but his shot was blocked by the Panther wall.
With one final opportunity in the closing seconds, SCSU sent in a corner, but the ball was headed away by Lucas Nicolaou, and Joseph Blackton sprinted the length of the field to seal it. The senior's first career goal capped off a 4-2 victory.
The Panthers now advance to face No. 1 seed Bentley in the semifinal. Kickoff is set for 1:00 PM on Wednesday in Waltham, Mass.
