Aug. 20, 2008

Garden City, N.Y. - The Adelphi men's soccer team opened their 2008 campaign with exhibition games at Fordham and Iona.The Panthers picked up a 2-1 win against Fordham and played Iona to a tie, 2-2.

In the first of three 30-minutes period against Fordham, the Rams opened the scoring in the final minute of play. Abe Chehebar found Peter Graham on the left side of the box, who then crossed it to Louis Vigilotti in front of the net, chipping the ball past Adelphi goalkeeper Vincent Treglia for a 1-0 lead.

In the second period, Adelphi knotted the game at one at the 39:25 mark, as Patrick Figueiredo scored from ten yards out on a pass from Val Charalambous, beating Fordham goalkeeper Dan Hajducky. Later in the period, Figueiredo got a pass from Kemalie Preston, who then found a wide open Chris Clarke for the go-ahead goal.

In the third, Fordham goalkeeper Greg O'Brien came up with two saves on shots from Figueiredo and Clark to keep the Rams close. Fordham's Sam Jolly had the best opportunity to tie the game late in the period, as Matt Metzger made a diving save to perseve the 2-1 victory.

In Adelphi's match-up with Iona the Gaels were first to break onto the board, notching a goal off the foot of Tonna Egbuchunam in the third minute of play. After 20 minutes of scoreless action, Figueiredo pulled the The Panthers even, drilling a shot into the back of the net.

Knotted at one going into the second half, Iona logged its second goal of the day. This time Ben Williams accepted a cross from teammate Mario Rios and headed the ball successfully between the posts. Adelphi kept the pressure on and it paid off late as, the Panthers tied the game for a second time. Figueiredo booted a slow roller past Gael goalkeeper Nils Binstock with an assist from Clarke.

Adelphi opens the 2008 season on August 29 when they travel to Durham, New Hampshire to compete in the UNH Nike Fall Classic. The Panthers will take on host New Hampshire at 4:30 pm.