Garden City, N.Y. - The No. 4 Dowling College men's lacrosse team came up on the short end of an 8-7 decision this afternoon on the NCAA Div. II Quarterfinals at Motamed Field. No. 1 Adelphi University advances to face No. 3 LIU Post in the semifinal round.
The Golden Lions jumped to a 3-0 lead early in the first quarter. Senior Tom Cleary scored his first of three goals on the afternoon at the 12:24 mark and was followed up by Pete Schneider's unassisted tally just four minutes later. Senior Matt Crough made it 3-0 with his 51st goal on the season before AU's Salvatore Tuttle put the Panthers on the board with just 1:43 left in the quarter.
Adelphi recorded three unassisted goals in the second frame while holding the Golden Lions scoreless to head into halftime leading 4-3.
After a lightning delay, the Panthers picked where they left off in the second quarter with three unanswered goals in the third quarter taking a 7-3 lead into the fourth and final frame.
Dowling's Michael Fitzpatrick won the faceoff to open the fourth quarter and Cleary ended the 30 minute DC scoring drought just 52 seconds into play. Minutes later an AU turnover brought the ball into the offensive end for the Golden Lions where sophomore Brian White connected with Crough Dowling to within two, 7-5. Back-to-back goals from senior Sheldon Burns and Cleary knotted the game at 7 with just under five minutes to play and both teams created scoring opportunities in the final minutes, but Tuttle found the back of the net with just 7 seconds on the clock for the game winner advancing the Panthers to the semifinal round.
In his final game as a Golden Lion, Cleary matched a game high netting three goals with Crough finishing with two tallies. Burns finished with a goal and a team high six groundballs with three caused turnovers. Goalkeeper Frank Sommers finished the day with 11 saves and four groundballs between the pipes.
Provided by the Dowling Sports Information Department.
