Joe Giardina caused two turnovers in Adelphi's win against LeMoyne.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Salvatore Tuttle and Nick Watson combined to make top-ranked LeMoyne College's net ripple seven times, powering the second-ranked Panthers past the Dolphins, 13-11 on Saturday. The victory hands LeMoyne its first loss of the season, dropping them to 9-1 overall and 6-1 in the Northeast-10, while the Brown and Gold remain unscathed at 10-0 overall and 7-0 in conference play.
Tuttle led the Panthers with four goals, while Watson added three of his own. Tim Daly and Brandon Goodwin added two each, while Aidan Bennardo was brillant in goal, making nine stops on the afternoon, to collect his 10th win of the season.
Gregory Puskuldjian controlled the face-off "X" in the latter stages of the game, winning 18 of the 27 face-offs he took, while collecting a team-high eight ground balls. Teammate Joe Sciara had six ground balls, while Tuttle and Bennardo picked up three each. Adelphi caused seven Dolphin turnovers, with two coming courtesy of Joe Giardina.
LeMoyne's Kam Bumpus helped the Dolphins get off to a fast start, winning the first three face-offs of the game and scoring the home teams first goal of the game. Following the Bumpus tally, the two teams would trade goals, with the final score of the first quarter coming off the stick of LeMoyne's Kevin Kelly. Kelly also, opened the scoring in the second frame, giving the home team a two goal cushion, 4-2.
However, following the three Bumpus face-off wins, Puskuldjian took up residence in the face-off "X", winning 75 percent of the remaining battles (18-24). Adelphi took full advantage of Puskuldjian's wins in the second quarter, scoring three straight goals to enter halftime with their first lead of the game, 5-4. Nick Susko, Nick Watson and Patrick Starke, each beat the Dolphin keeper, with Starke's tally coming with just 2:08 left in the half, putting Adelphi on top.
The third quarter was a back and forth affair. Adelphi and LeMoyne traded goals four times in the opening 12 minutes of play, leaving the Panthers ahead, 9-8 with 3:14 to play after a Dolphin goal. However, Tuttle responded with two consecutive goals in the final 3:04, the first coming just 12 seconds after the Dolphins eighth goal of the game, to send the Brown and Gold into the final 15 minutes with a three goal lead 11-8.
Watson pushed Adelphi's margin to four goals, 12-8, just 25 seconds into the final frame, with his third and final goal of the contest. LeMoyne answered back a few minutes later, but Goodwin's final tally came with 7:02 remaining, pushing the Panthers lead back to four goals, 13-9. The Brown and Gold defense would bend in the final minutes, allowing two more Dolphin goals, but it did not break, helping Adelphi to a 13-11 victory.
Adelphi took more shots then the home team, 47-38, picked up five more ground balls, 29-24 and won more face-offs, 18-9.
