Garden City, N.Y. – For the second straight year, a NCAA Men's Lacrosse Final Four game will be played on Motamed Field. The top seeded Adelphi University men's lacrosse team will play host to the Saint Anselm College Hawks on Sunday, May 18.
This will be the Hawks first trip to Garden City this season. With the season series at 1-1, the winner will not only win the season series but punch their ticket to the national championship game.
This is a carbon copy of last year's North Region final, which saw the Cats advance to the national championship, via a 12-9 decision. Earlier this season, St. A's picked up their first ever win over Adelphi in Manchester, N.H, winning 9-6 which is Adelphi's lowest goal total on the year. In the Northeast-10 Conference final, the Brown and Gold avenged that loss in Manchester with a 13-12 overtime thriller.
Heading into Sunday's match up, the Panthers have outscored their opponents 44-16 in their first two NCAA tournament games, the most throughout both the North and South regions.
Grad star Dylan Renner is the man responsible for keeping offenses in check and off the board, holding teams to under 10 goals in all but one game– the NE10 title game against St. A's. Over the last three games, the Roslyn, N.Y. native has made 31 saves and notched his first point of the season against Molloy.
Outside of the crease, Ries Bower has been the anchor of the defense. Since the start of the NCAA tournament, he's caused seven turnovers and collected nine ground balls. The Lethbridge, Alberda, Canada native has also contributed on the offensive side of the ball, scoring a pole goal and collecting an assist.
The Panthers offense has been lethal all season, playing unselfishly resulting in six players with over 20 goals. Leading the offense and continuing to lead Division II in points is Braden Donnellan. With 106 points on the season, the sophomore is three points from tying the single season program record in points. Over the last three contests, Donnellan has collected 17 points, caused three turnovers and picked up two ground balls. Not to be outdone, Donnellan's teammate Michael Durnin has scored six goals twice over the last three games including the game winning goal in the NE10 championship.
The two NE10 powerhouses will square off one final time this season on Sunday, May 18. Faceoff on Long Island is set for 1:00 p.m. The winner of this game will play the winner of the South Region final, as Maryville takes on Tampa. For ticketing and other game information, visit aupanthers.com.
