GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – In a tight defensive battle, the Pace University men's lacrosse team fell 9-7 to No. 4 Adelphi University in the first round of the NE10 Championship Tournament on Tuesday night. The Setters end their 2018 season with an overall record of 7-7.

Inside the Numbers
*Senior goalkeeper Robert Beshlian (Wantagh, NY/Wantagh) posted yet-another strong effort in net, recording 16 saves in the contest. Despite a 25-16 margin in shots on goal, Beshlian kept the Blue and Gold in the game throughout. He was especially impressive in the first half, tallying 11 stops across the opening 30 minutes.

*Beshlian ends the season ranked second in the NE10 in save percentage (58.7) and third in total saves (175).

*Ryan O'Hagan (Watervliet, NY/Christian Brothers Academy), Bradley Paterson (Caldwell, NJ/Depaul Catholic) and Joseph Diggle (West Islip, NY/West Islip) all scored two goals to lead Pace's attack. Junior Peter Bashar (Stratford, CT/St. Joseph) also added a tally for the Blue and Gold.  

*Matthew Simone (Seaford, NY/Seaford) led the Setters with a pair of assists, while Liam Brennan (Huntington Station, NY/Walt Whitman), Michael Pappalardo (Ossining, NY/Ossining), and Joshua Kreitler (Shelton, CT/Shelton) added helpers as well.

How it Happened
A fast start, along with strong play at X (Adelphi won 16-of-18 face-offs), proved to be two of the biggest factors in the game. The Panthers jumped out to a 4-0 lead, keeping Pace off the board until deep into the second quarter.

Diggle finally found the back of the net for the Setters at the 5:44 mark of the second quarter, cutting Adelphi's lead to 4-1. The margin would stay at 4-1 into the halftime break as both defenses played stellar.

The Blue and Gold would slim the edge further in the third quarter as Kreitler found Paterson for his 30th goal of the season (team-high). Adelphi answered with back-to-back tallies to build the advantage back up to four goals at 6-2 with 5:46 left in the third.

The Setters and Panthers exchanged goals to end the third quarter, sending Adelphi to the fourth with a 7-3 edge. Following another goal from Bashar to open the final frame, Adelphi's back-to-back tallies at the 8:55 and 6:19 marks proved to be the final difference in the contest.

Facing their largest deficit of the game at 9-4, the Setters rattled off the final three goals of the game to fall just shy of the Panthers, 9-7. O'Hagan recorded back-to-back tallies while Diggle capped off the Setters' output with 48 seconds left in regulation.