June 26, 2009

Garden City, N.Y. - The Panthers finished second in the commissioner's Cup standing in their final year in the East Coast Conference (ECC). Adelphi was paced by conference championships in men and women's cross-country, baseball and women's lacrosse as the Panthers move into the Northeast-10 for the 2009-10 academic year.

Overall the Panthers had nine teams qualify for post season play, including women's lacrosse, which captured the program's third National Title with a 16-4 victory over Lock Haven in the title game. In all, Adelphi athletes were awarded 147 all-conference honors, 19 all-region certificates and eight All-America nods.

Fall
Cross-Country (Men and Women - ECC Championship, NCAA Qualifier)
The Adelphi men and women's cross-country teams each captured the 2008 ECC title, the third in a row for the women and second in three years for the men. The women were led by ECC Runner of the year and ECC Individual Champion Ify Anene, who captured both of those titles for the second straight year.

The Panthers combined to place 12 runners on the all-conference teams as Angel Ortega, Ryan Pezzul, Adam Clark, Tom Eickelberg, Aaron Warner, Anene, Kristen Wojtuniak, Danielle Matteo, Catherine Connors, Jenilee Fuertes, Kristen Meyer and Danielle Lyons were honored. Head coach Adam Siepiola was also named ECC Coach of the Year for the third year in a row.

In addition, Anene placed third at the NCAA Division II East Regional, earning a trip to the NCAA Division II National Championship meet, where she placed 60th in the country. She was named All-Region, while Pezzulo placed eighth at the East Regional also earning All-Region honors and earning IC4A All-East honors with a ninth place finish.

Lyons also earned All-Region honors by virtue of her 12th place finish at the regional and was one of seven athletes honored by the USTFCCCA as Division II All-Academic selections as both the men and women's team posted team GPA's of above 3.0 to earn All-Academic team honors as well.

Volleyball (27-11, ECC Tournament, NCAA Regional Participant)
The Adelphi volleyball team carried last year's record breaking success into the 2008 season as the Panthers qualified for their second straight NCAA regional. Adelphi opened the season on fire, ripping off seven straight wins, before evening out, only to close the regular season with 12 wins in their final 15 games.

Heather Mau helped the Panthers reach the NCAA Regional.

Adelphi reached the second round of the ECC tournament, falling to Bridgeport in straight sets. The Panthers then faced Dowling College in the first round of the NCAA regional, falling in four sets, 3-1.

For their play during the season, Kathleen Carny, Heather Mau and Amy Williams each earned All-ECC honors, while both Carney and Williams earned AVCA All-Region honors. Williams was an all-region selection, while Carney earned honorable mention status. It was also the first time in program history that Adelphi players earned AVCA All-Region honors.

Field Hockey (3-7)
After a 25 year hiatus, one of the oldest sports in Adelphi's history finally resumed play this past fall season. Head Coach Gloria O'Connor wasted no time as she got her young squad ready for their10-game schedule.

The first win came against Drew University on September 20, 2008 in Madison, New Jersey as the Panthers fought their way to a 2-1 win. The next day they followed up with another victory, recording their first home triumph in an exciting 3-2 overtime victory against Ramapo. The squad capped off the inaugural season in fashion as they closed out the season in front of the home crowd with a 5-2 victory over Seton Hill.

Postseason awards came in the form of National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) All-Academic honors as the team was one of 19 Division II institutions recognized for maintaining a 3.0 or better team GPA. The Panthers ranked fifth overall with a 3.197 cumulative GPA while placing 13 members on the Division II National Academic Squad for maintaining a 3.3 GPA or better.

Women's Tennis (6-9, 3-3 ECC, ECC Tournament)
Highlighted by the crowning of a singles ECC Flight Champion, and two runners up, the Adelphi Women's Tennis squad boasted a season that would go in the books as one of their strongest. The Racketwomen finished their campaign 6-6, 3-3 overall, fourth in the ECC and winning a total of 39 single sets and 21 doubles.

The Panthers came on strong in the end with sophomore Alda Ribeiro winning the number one singles title in the ECC Flight Tournament, while freshman Carolyn Smith and junior captain Tricia Burns both finished runner up in second and sixth singles. Ribeiro and Smith both picked up ECC All-Conference kudos for their 2008 work.

The Racketwomen qualified for the ECC tournament for the second year in the row, but lost in the first round against Concordia College, the eventual season champion.

Women's Soccer (14-4-1, 7-1-1 ECC, ECC Tournament)
Adelphi were ranked as high as #4 in the regional ranking, however a fall to Bridgeport in the ECC tournament kept the Panthers out of the NCAA spotlight. The Brown and Gold ended their season 14-4-1 overall, 7-2-1 in ECC play. The Booters got off to a rocky start in September, sitting at 3-3-1 before the NYIT home game on the 24th. From that game on, the Panthers snapped a four game slump and posted a nine game winning streak.

Brianne McDonnell led the way with 28 points (11g 6a) and tallied six game winning goals. Seven members of the team were named to the ECC All-Conference list; sophomore Brianne McDonnell, junior Kayte Kinsley and senior Theresa Ennis are First Team recipients. Junior Brittany Hess and freshman Dorothy Connolly were named to the Second Team while senior Erin Klimkowski and junior Caitlin Morrison claim Third Team honors.

As a team, Adelphi was selected as the recipient of the New York Metro Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association (ISOA) Sportsmanship Award for 2008 and also earned their 11th National Soccer Coaches Association of American (NSCAA) award for its team academic excellence.

Senior defender Theresa Ennis was named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/Adidas All-East Region Team, starting in all 19 games for the Panthers and was instrumental in the team's defensive efforts.

Men's Soccer (12-6, 5-1 ASC, Atlantic Soccer Conference Tournament)
The Adelphi men's soccer team posted a perfect record of 4-0 in Atlantic Soccer Conference (ASC) play, earning the regular season league title and the top seed in the conference tournament.

The Panthers opened the season with four straight losses, but a 3-1 win over Sacred Heart righted the ship and saw Adelphi go on a nine game win streak, securing the Panthers a 12-6 overall record.

Patrick Figueiredo was ASC Player of The Year.

Adelphi , the #1 seed in the ASC tournament advanced to the conference final with a 3-0 win over NJIT, but fell to host Longwood University in a tight 1-0 game.

Senior Patrick Figueiredo was named ASC Player of the Year for the second straight season, while also earning ASC All-Tournament offensive honors, teammate Thorn Holder earned defensive honors at the ASC Tournament as well. In all eight Panthers earned All-ASC honors as Figueiredo, Koutsounadis, Preston, Gluchowski, Kouznetsov, Charalambous, Hoffman, Mora and Holder were selected.

Carlo Acquista was honored as Coach of The Year. Figueiredo and Preston were also named NSCAA All-Region honorees, while Figueiredo also picked up Nassau Sports Commission College Athlete of The Year, and NSCAA Adidas Scholar All-America status.

Winter

Men's Basketball (20-9, 13-5 ECC, ECC Tournament)
The Adelphi men's basketball team finished the season third in the ECC with a record of 13-5 in ECC play, advancing to the conference semifinals before falling to Bridgeport and closing out the season with a record of 20-9 overall.

The Panthers put together a win streak of six games in the middle of the regular season, before closing out the schedule with seven victories in their final eight games, earning the third seed in the ECC tournament, which was held on Adelphi's home court.

Sophomore Richard Byrd was a first-team All-ECC selection, while junior teammate Casey Cosgrove was a second-team selection. Byrd was also awarded All-MET status for his play at guard during the 2008-09 season.

The Adelphi men's basketball team finished the 2008-09 basketball season as the top ranked team in Division II in field goal percentage defense (37.6 percent). This is the third time in five seasons that the Panthers have been tops in the nation defensively.

Women's Basketball (13-15, 10-8 ECC)
The Panthers opened the season strong, winning four of its first five contests, and then worked through an up and down season that saw the Panthers score 100 points in a 100-50 win over Concordia and drop a 50-41 heartbreaker to Molloy at home. The Panther faced Molloy in the first round of the ECC tournament, falling 67-49 to close out the year at 13-15 overall and 10-8 in ECC play.

Senior Serita Lee was the lone Panther selected to the All-ECC team, earning second-team status after averaging 12 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. Lee was also a second-team All-MET selection, while, sophomore Ashley Caifa was named to the Basketball Coaches Association of New York, Inc. (BCNY) All-College Team, after averaging 14.0 points per game.

Bowling (78-68)
Heading into the winter season, the Adelphi bowling team began the season with a #16 national ranking. The Panthers rolled through their season in style with highlights coming in the form of a victory against defending national champions, University of Maryland at Eastern Shore.

Another positive season note was freshman Danielle Merino getting a nod from the Northeast Conference (NEC) as the conference Rookie Bowler of the Week. Erica Drake was the lone Panther Kegler to compete in the ECAC singles tournament while the squad placed fifth in team competition.

The Panthers finished the season ranked #15 in the country.

At the NEC Championships, coach Bob Cincotta led his crew to a third place finish which was followed up by three All-Conference kudos; Merino and Drake were named to the All-Rookie team while Drake was also a second team All-NEC bowler as well as an honoree on the NEC All-Tournament team. The Keglers capped off their best season to date with a 78-68 overall record and a one spot improvement in the national ranking to #15.

Swimming (NCAA National Championship Participant)
Freshman Corey McKee highlighted the season for the Panthers, qualifying for the NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championship Festival held in Houston, Texas. The freshman placed 16th in the 200-yard fly and earned All-American Honorable Mention kudos for his performance.

As a team, the men's program finished the season 4-8, while the women ended 4-7. During METs competition, the men picked up a sixth place finish and the women finished 10th. The men ended their season finishing 19th at the ECAC championships in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Zachary Terzano posted two top-10 finishes at METs, placing seventh in both the 100-yard freestyle (47.39) and the 200 yard freestyle (1:43.45). The sophomore took the pool at ECAC's in five of the Panthers' seven appearances in the finals, including a 1:42.41 effort in the 200 yard preliminaries and a 1:42.86, 15th place showing in the finals. Both times were under the NCAA "B" cut standard.

One the women's side during MET's, Charlotte Davies was the lone member to crack the top-five. Davies placed fifth overall in the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 18:14.80, just 0.2 seconds out of fourth. The women's 800-yard freestyle relay slipped into the top-10, placing 10th overall with a time of 8:34.69.

Spring

Baseball (34-16, 17-7 ECC, ECC Regular Season, Tournament Champion, NCAA Regional Participant)
Despite a slow start that was hindered by bad, unplayable weather that saw four of the first six scheduled contests to be cancelled, the Panther baseball team caught fire, winning nine of ten games en route to a 27-14 regular season record overall and a conference mark of 17-7. Adelphi's conference record secured the Panthers the ECC regular season title and the first seed in the conference tourney.

From there Adelphi went on to capture the ECC tournament title, with two wins over Dowling College, sandwiched around a 3-2 win over St. Thomas Aquinas. The Panthers then earned a berth in the NCAA East Regional, ripping off three straight wins, out scoring their opponents 19-7 to move into the regional final against Dowling. In the regional final, Adelphi fell to Dowling, 4-0 and 1-0, ending their season at 34-16 overall, just one win away from the College World Series.

Ryan Boelsen was an all-region honoree.

The Panthers had six players named to the ECC All-Conference teams as Ryan Boelsen, Keith Couch, Bill Melillo, Rob Paccione, Chris Weidlein and Matt Kenney all got nods. Melillo also earned ECC tournament MVP honors for his play during the tournament.

Boelsen and Couch also earned Daktronics All-Region honors, while Melillo, Justin Ciamillo and Rob Nixon were named to the All-East Region Tournament team. Couch, Boelsen and Melillo all earned ABCA All-Region status, while Couch and Boelsen were also selected to the NCBWA All-Region team.

Track and Field (Men Indoor CTC Championship, NCAA Championship Participant)
The men's and women's track and field teams had an exceptional year that was highlighted by numerous All-Conference honors, conference champions and national qualifiers. At the conference meet, the men managed to put up 179 points without scoring in a single throws or jumps event to take the title over Mansfield by over 90 points. In the win, they had 14 individual and four relays earn All-Conference honors, while they crowned four individual event winners and a relay. The women, in their fifth place showing, had two conference champions and had six individual and two relays earn All-Conference honors.

The men had three athletes set provisional qualifying marks led by freshman Mychael Fabio in the 400 (48.06), senior Kevin Durant in the 60 (6.80) and sophomore Bailey Ince in the 800 (1:53.94). On the women's side, sophomore Danielle Lyons earned an automatic mark in the 800 with a time of 2:12.72.

During the outdoor CTC Championships, the men placed fourth, earned All-Conference honors by nine individuals and one relay, and had conference champions in three events. On the women's side, they matched their indoor finish, crowned three conference champions and had eight earn All-Conference honors.

Highlighting the outdoor season was three provisional qualifying marks from Lyons in the 800, Fabio in the 400 and Durant in the 100m. The men's 4x400 relay successfully defended their title at the PENN Relays in the CTC section in one of the fastest times run since the 1970's, winning in 3:16.76. Capping off the season, Fabio earned a trip the USA Junior National Meet held in Eugene, OR for his performance in the 400 meter dash.

Men's Tennis (9-7, 2-3 ECC, NCAA Regional Participant)
The men's tennis team were selected for NCAA regional play for the second year in a row, after posting a regular season mark of 9-5 overall and 2-3 in ECC play. The Panthers were up and down during the regular season, but closed out the schedule well, winning four of their final six regular season matches.

Drawing Queens in the first round of the ECC play, the Panthers fell, 5-0 and then were awarded a berth in the NCAA East Regional. In the regional Adelphi faced off against Merrimack, a school they had handled 6-3 during the regular season. The Panthers dropped a very tight contest, 5-4 to close out the season.

Sebastian Nieves earned All-ECC honors, after posting an individual record of 11-3 and was ranked 14th in the region.

Golf (NCAA East Regional, National Championship Participant)
Under the tutelage of first year head coach, Tim McAleer, the golf team has been successful as they have taken top honors in 11 outings. Wins included the Goldey-Beacom Fall and Spring Invitationals, the Dowling September Shootout, Eagle Shootout, Charger Challenge, Hofstra Invitational, Tom Pecora Collegiate Invite, River Hawk Classic, Yellow Jacket Collegiate Invitational and Long Island Intercollegiate Championships.

More impressively, this stellar list of accomplishments is accompanied by a second place ECAC finish. With the exception of a single fifth place finish, the squad has not finished outside of second place in each of their outings.

The golfers recently earned their second consecutive trip to the NCAA Regional Championship at Glade Springs Resort Golf Club in Beckley, West Virginia, where they placed sixth overall, while Brant Kummerfeld placed among the top-five individuals and earned a trip to the NCAA Division II National Championship.

At the National Championship tournament Kummerfeld shot three very consistent rounds before finishing 33rd overall, earning honorable mention PING All-America honors. Teammates Oliver Hudesman and Matt Demeo joined Kummerfeld on the PING all-region team.

Softball (32-14, 14-4 ECC, ECC Tournament)
Softball opened the season with a strong 6-4 road trip at the Rebel Games, enough to receive votes in the NFCA Top-25 Division II poll, before coming back to New York to battle not only opponents but the weather, as 10 games were either cancelled or postponed.

Adelphi gave up a couple of splits early in the season, but reeled off wins in 17 of their final 20 games to close out the regular season 32-12 overall and 14-4 in ECC play, earning the second seed in the ECC tournament.

The Panthers faced C.W. Post in the first round of the ECC tournament, dropping a close 3-1 decision and followed that up with a 2-0 loss to Molloy, ending the season at 32-14 overall.

Samantha Johnston was ECC Player of The Year.

Senior Samantha Johnston was selected as the ECC Player of the Year, while Diana DiPiano, Leighann Bell, Christina O'Hara, Jessica Vogt, Stephanie Byster, Christine Robinson, Kristin Brennan, Katie Brophy and Rochelle Noren joined Johnston on the all-conference team.

Johnston also earned NFCA all-region honors, along with Vogt and was also named to the Daktronics Inc. All-America status, while also being named a CoSIDA all-district honoree.

Women's Lacrosse (18-0, 5-0 ECC, NCAA National Champion)
The women's lacrosse team claimed the regular season ECC title en route to the NCAA Division II Final Four. The Panther completed a perfect season with a 16-4 victory in the National Championship over Lock Haven, giving Adelphi its third national title, becoming the only school in DII women's lacrosse to claim three.

The 12-poin margin of victory over Lock Haven in the finals was the largest, setting a DII Tournament record. Senior Rachel Ray was named Tournament MVP after shattering the NCAA tournament record for most assists in a single game as well as in a single tournament. She was joined on the all-tournament team by Jackie Bogensberger, Erica Devito, Kaitlyn Carter and Emily Simpson.

Senior Rachel Ray became the school's all-time leader in both points and assists this season. She is also ranked first in the Division II in assists and assists per game and was a finalist for the 2009 Tewaarton Award, the nation's top lacrosse honor. Ray was also named the ECC Player of the Year.

Junior goalkeeper Caitlin Fitzpatrick is the nation leader in save percentage and goals against average. She has been named East Coast Conference Goalie of the Week eight of nine times and earned IWLCA and ECC Goalkeeper of the Year honors.

Devito was named ECC Rookie of the Year as Michelle Ceraso, Carter, Simpson, Marissa Mills, Bogensberger and Nicole Lein joined Fitzpatrick and Ray on the all-conference team.

In addition, Carter, Ceraso, Devito, Fitzpatrick, Ray and Simpson all earned All-Region and All-America status. Ray and Lein were also selected to participate in the IWLCA/Under Armour North/South game, while Bogensberger was a CoSIDA all-district selection.

Men's Lacrosse (3-8, 1-5 ECC)
The Adelphi men's lacrosse team opened up the 2009 season winning two of their first three games, including wins over Saint Leo and St. Anselm. From there the Panthers stumbled, winning just one of their next eight games, including three losses by just one goal, giving Adelphi a mark of 3-8 overall.

Senior Eddie Ege and Andrew Ashkenazy, were joined by junior Kevin Kemp on the all-conference team, while Ege led the nation in assists per game and Ashkenazy closed out the senior second in the country in face-off win percentage (66.2) and fourth in ground balls per game (8.5).

Senior Donny Moss had his hard work rewarded when he was drafted 39th overall in the Major League Lacrosse entry draft by the Long Island Lizards.