Salvatore Tuttle saved his best efforts for last, virtually putting the top seeded Adelphi University men’s lacrosse team on his back.
The sophomore from Massapequa Park scored his team’s final three goals, including the game-winner in overtime, propelling the Panthers to a Northeast-10 Tournament Championship over Merrimack College, 13-12. With the win, the Brown and Gold sit at 16-1 overall and earned the program’s second tournament crown in the past four seasons.
Tuttle led the offense with a game-high six points on five goals and one assist, including four of the final five Adelphi goals in the game. Levittown’s Jamie McAndrew and South Hempstead’s Nick Susko were the only other Panthers with more then one point, handing out two assists each. In a show of the Brown and Gold’s depth, eight different Panthers netted goals in the win.
Glen Head’s Gregory Puskuldjian controlled the face-off “X” for the Panthers, winning 19 of 29 face-offs and picked up a game-high 15 ground balls. Cutchogue’s Aidan Bennardo collected his 16th win of the season, making 12 saves, including two huge stops in the overtime period to keep the game tied at 12.
The Brown and Gold jumped on Merrimack early, scoring five of the first six goals of the game, with the last of the five coming off the stick of Tuttle at the 13:35 mark of the second period. The Warriors responded by turning the tables on Adelphi and scoring five of the next six, knotting the game at 6-6, with just 59 seconds left in the first half, which sent the teams in deadlocked.
Momentum continued in Merrimack’s favor as the Warriors scored three of the five third period goals, finding themselves 15 minutes away from a NE-10 Tournament Championship. However, Adelphi and Puskuldjian shifted the action in the fourth in their favor. The Panthers scored two goals in the first 49 seconds of the fourth, just 10 seconds apart off the sticks of Tuttle and Puskuldjian to steal the lead away from the visitors, 10-9.
A Merrimack tally knotted the game at 10 with 13:46 to play, but back-to-back successful efforts from Tuttle gave the Brown and Gold control of the game, 12-10 with 10:09 to play. After nearly seven minutes of back and forth action, the Warriors scored twice in a span of 50 seconds to tie the game at 12 with just 2:55 left in the fourth.
The sudden victory overtime kicked off with Merrrimack (12-5) taking advantage of a rare Puskuldjian bobble on the face and back-to-back point blank saves from Bennardo handed the ball back to Adelphi with 3:22 on the clock, which would prove to be more then enough time for Tuttle. After a Panther timeout, Tuttle was given a restart in the corner of the field behind the goal, he pushed his man to the crease and then rolled outside and beat Merrimack’s Dom Madonna over his right shoulder for the game winner.
Bennardo and Puskuldjian were named to the All-Tournament team, while Tuttle was honored with inclusion on the All-Tournament team and was named Most Outstanding Player of the Championship.
Women’s Lacrosse
The defense showed up to play, holding the second seeded New Haven Chargers to just four goals and a total of nine shots in a 14-4 victory for the top seeded Panthers of Adelphi University on Sunday, May 4 in the Northeast-10 Championship Final on Motamed Field. With the win, the Brown and Gold remain spotless at 19-0 and capture the programs fourth NE-10 Tournament crown in five seasons, while New Haven slips to 16-3 overall.
Alexa Froccaro and Rachel O’Brien led the attack for Adelphi with four goals each, while Jackie Jahelka slipped three past the New Haven keeper. Devan Crimi picked up two tallies for the Panthers and Danielle Jaycox was also credited with a goal.
Jacqueline Williams set the tone for the defense, causing a game-high five turnovers, while six other Panthers picked up one turnover each. Felicia Mills helped Adelphi control the draw, winning eight draw controls, as Williams grabbed a game-high four ground balls. Taylor Hayes collected her 17th victory of the season, making five stops in net for the Brown and Gold.
New Haven struck first, scoring the opening goal of the game 4:51 into the action off the stick of Nicole Belanger. Then an O’Brien tally at the 22:31 mark, sparked a 4-0 Panther spurt that featured two goals from Froccaro and one from Jahelka, putting Adelphi ahead 4-1 with 17:21 left in the first period. New Haven’s Kathryn Campbell responded 1:10 later, cutting the Brown and Gold lead to two, but back-to-back goals from O’Brien and Froccaro sent the home team into the locker room with a four goal cushion, 6-2.
Adelphi and New Haven traded goals to open the second frame, keeping the margin at four goals, thanks to a Maya Szymanski goal with 23:56 left on the clock, 8-4. From there it was all Panthers as the hosts closed out the game by ripping off a 6-0 run, including goals from O’Brien, Jaycox, Froccaro, Crimi and two from Jahelka. The Brown and Gold defense also helped shut the door on the Chargers, holding the visitor’s to just two shots in the final minutes, both of which were turned away by Hayes.
Men’s Baseball
The Adelphi University baseball team completed their three-game series with the University of New Haven Saturday afternoon. The Chargers bounced back after Friday’s 4-3, 12-inning loss to takes game one 10-4 and game two in a 15-8 decision. The Panthers drop to 21-21 overall and 14-12 in league play. The lone win on Friday afternoon was enough to clinch a spot in the Northeast-10 Conference playoffs, slated to begin Wednesday, May 7. The Blue and White improve to 22-11 and 17-9 in the NE-10.
Cliff Brantley led the Panther offense, going 4-for-8 at the plate with three runs and three RBIs, all while posting a .625 slugging percentage. Kevin Hutzel went 3-for-6 (.500) with a double.
