Bentley and Adelphi to Meet Again on Wednesday in NCAA First Round
WALTHAM, Mass. – Bentley and Adelphi will meet for the third time in 19 days on Wednesday at 4:00 PM, this time in the first round of the NCAA Division II Men's Lacrosse Championship.
The Falcons, selected to the NCAA Championship for the first time, are the No. 4 seed in the North Region and Adelphi is the No. 5 seed.
These teams met just six days ago in the NE10 semifinals, a game Bentley won 7-4 at home to advance to the NE10 finals. Nicholas Thorn-Guillaro (Wilbraham, Mass./Wilbraham Monson Academy) had a hat trick in the first half and Luke Jaber (Milton, Mass./BC High) had two goals as Bentley led 6-1 at halftime.
Bentley only scored once in the 2nd half, a goal by Garrett Witt (Frederick, Md./Oakdale) at 13:34 of the 4th quarter, but an outstanding defensive effort closed out the win. The four goals were the fewest Adelphi has scored in a game this season.
Falcons goalie Jackson Tinsley (Beverly Hills, Mich.) made 14 saves and Cam Bartolomeo (Meriden, Conn./Xavier) won seven of 13 faceoffs.
That win advanced Bentley to the NE10 finals against Le Moyne, but the No. 1 nationally ranked Dolphins took it 12-8 on Saturday.
Bentley also won the first game against Adelphi, in regular season on the road. That was a 13-11 Falcons win in Garden City on April 22 when the Panthers were ranked No. 2 nationally.
Bentley scored three straight goals in the final 4:31 of the game to overcome an 11-10 deficit. Senior Eric Makhatadze (Clifton Park, N.Y. / Shenendehowa) had two of the goals during the run and Witt had the other. Tinsley made 14 saves in that game.
The winner of Wednesday's game will face Le Moyne, the No. 1 seed in the North Region, on Sunday in the quarterfinals.
The other first round game in the North Region on Wednesday is the No. 3 seed Mercy against the No. 6 seed Saint Anselm. The winner of that game will take on No. 2 Mercyhurst in the quarterfinals.
The winner of the two quarterfinal games will meet in the semifinals on May 21st at the highest remaining seed.
In the South Region, Rollins and Limestone received byes as the top two seeds. No. 3 seed Wingate hosts No. 6 UIndy and the No. 4 seed Tampa hosts the No. 5 seed Lenoir-Rhyne in the first round, also on Wednesday.
The national championship game is on Sunday, May 28 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.