MANCHESTER, N.H. – Ryan Mee (Medway, Mass.) scored three goals, and added an assist for four points, but the Saint Anselm College men's lacrosse team fell to No. 4-nationally ranked Adelphi University on Saturday afternoon, as the Hawks opened up Northeast-10 play at Grappone Stadium.

With the loss, the Hawks will fall to 0-3 on the young season and 0-1 in NE-10 conference play, while the Panthers will improve to a perfect 3-0 and 1-0 in league play.

The Hawks gave up two unanswered goals in the final 2:36 of the game, surrendering their 8-7 lead and the victory. Along with three goals from Mee, Jake Mallinson (Middleton, R.I)) added a pair each of goals and assists, while Andrew Messner (Wakefield, R.I.) tallied two points on a goal and an assist.

Adelphi jumped out to the early lead 1:45 into the game when Ikerson Hopper flung the ball past Saint Anselm goalie Jonathon O'Reilly (Plano, Texas) for the 1-0 lead. The Hawks were quick to answer when Mee connected with Charles Geraghty (Etna, N.H.) with 9:21 left in the opening quarter.

Saint Anselm gained the one-goal advantage as Messner recorded his first goal of the day 44 seconds later. The Panthers gained the equalizer, however, as Joe Celano picked up a pass from Salvatore Tuttle with 7:30 left to close scoring in the first.

On the extra-man advantage, the Hawks took back the lead at 3-2, when Messner found Mallison 1:18 into the second quarter. Adelphi wasted no time as Ikerson netted the tying goal to make the score 3-3 just 39 seconds later. Back and forth scoring continued as Mallinson put the Hawks up 4-3, before Celano scored for the Panthers, with an extra man, knotting the game at four.

Heading into halftime, Adelphi led Saint Anselm 5-4 after Jamie McAndrew scored with 42 seconds left in the half.

In the third quarter, Tuttle scored for the Panthers and Mee scored for the Hawks, bring the game to a score of 6-5 in favor of Adelphi.

Celano scored 11 seconds into the final quarter, before the Hawks scored three straight – giving them their third lead of the game at 8-7 with 2:42 left. Mee, Griffin Sandler (Bow, N.H.) and Geoff Kennedy (Gloucester) each notched a tally for the Hawks in their three-goal rally.

Six seconds after the Hawks' comeback, Gregory Puskuldjian and Hopper each scored for Adelphi, within forty seconds of each other, to give the Panthers the win with a final score of 9-8.

O'Reilly made 20 saves for the Hawks, while Adelphi split time in net between Eric Janssen and Aidan Bennardo. Each Panther goalie stopped five of nine shots they faced.

Each team scored three goals with the extra man as Adelphi was 3-7 and the Hawks were 3-9. Adelphi held a 45-32 edge in shots on goal.  

The Hawks return to action Saturday, March 23 when they play host to Assumption in  3 p.m. tilt at Grappone Stadium. Stay up-to-date with the latest news, including game previews and recaps, directly from the Saint Anselm College athletic department by liking us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/STAHawks) and following us on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/STAHawks).