GARDEN CITY, N.Y. - The Saint Anselm College men's lacrosse team fell to the No. 5-ranked team in Division II Saturday afternoon, dropping a 12-2 decision to the Panthers of Adelphi University.  With the victories, the Panthers improve to 11-2 overall alongside a Northeast-10 Conference mark of 7-2.  The Hawks fall to 8-4 on the year while losing their third game in row in the Northeast-10 Conference (5-3).

Adelphi hopped out to an early six goal lead as Joe Celano and Greg Puskuldjian scored twice to elevate the Panthers to a commanding lead.  Doug Quednau and Kevin Kennedy had scored in the half as well, with Kennedy's 10th goal of the season lifting the Panthers to the 6-0 lead.  To conclude the first half, junior midfielder Kyle Murphy (Middletown, R.I.) scored a man-up goal with only 19 seconds remaining in the half to lift the Hawks within five goals.

Saint Anselm struck first in the third quarter as freshman James Peters (Medway, Mass.) recorded his seventh goal in five games to cut into the deficit.  However, Adelphi answered quickly and scored six additional unanswered goals to silence any potential comeback.  In the second half, six different goal scorers bolsted the Adelphi offense to secure the victory.

In total, Celano scored three goals while Kennedy and Puskuldjian added two tallies apiece.  Joe Vitale chipped in with three assists.  For the Hawks, midfielder Andrew Messner (Wakefield, R.I.) added an assist in addition to the strikes by Murphy and Peters.

For Saint Anselm, Jonathon O'Reilly (Plano, Texas) allowed 12 goals while making 13 saves in his fourth loss of the season.  Eric Janssen played the first 57:41 for Adelphi, allowing two goals on 11 shots on net.  Keith McDermott relieved Janssen and played the final 2:19 and did not allow a goal.

NOTABLES: Saint Anselm has lost three straight games for the first time all season…Midfielder Andrew Messner has recorded six goals and five assists for 11 points (6-5=11) across his last four games…Midfielder James Peters is also riding a similar streak, scoring eight points (7-1=8) across his last five games.

Saint Anselm returns to action on Wednesday, Apr. 25 as they travel to face-off against the Greyhounds of Assumption College in a 7:00 p.m. contest.  For the latest news directly from the Saint Anselm College athletic department, follow along with the action on our Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/STAHawks) and our Twitter account (http://www.twitter.com/STAHawks).