Garden City, N.Y. – The Adelphi men's lacrosse program was recently tabbed as the pre-season #9 team by Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook. Meanwhile, Kevin Kennedy, Joe Celano, Jeff Melsopp, Eric Janssen and Greg Puskuldjian have been named pre-season All-Americans.
The Panthers check into the top-10 after a strong 13-3 campaign during the 2012 season. After an NCAA Championship appearance in 2011, the Brown and Gold opened up the last year's season with a number two spot. They kicked off last year with four straight wins. However, a 9-6 loss to Le Moyne dropped them to #5, and then another close loss to #4 Merrimack further pushed them down to #6. However, they regained momentum, moved up one spot in the national rankings and closed out the rest of the regular season on a six game win streak. Head Coach Gordon Purdie and his squad made it past the opening rounds but saw their season come to a close in the second round with yet another loss to Merrimack.
Adelphi is only one of three Northeast-10 institutions that appear in the top-10 with Le Moyne at #2 and Merrimack checking in at #4. Mercyhurst sits atop the pre-season poll while defending National Champions Dowling enters as #3. Limestone, NYIT, Seton Hill and Chestnut Hill follow suit through the #8 spot while LIU Post rounds out the list at #10.
Senior Kevin Kennedy sits as the lone Panther on the pre-season First-Team All-America. The defensive midfielder was sixth on the team in points (18) and was second with ground balls (48) and caused turnovers (14). He was a First-Team All-Conference honoree and was also named a Second-Team All-American.
Seniors Joe Celano, Jeff Melsopp and graduate student Eric Janssen were picked as Second-Team pre-season All-Americans. Celano, a 5-11 midfielder, was second on the team in goals (27) and fourth in points (32). Additionally, he had four game winners, six man up scores and scooped up 29 ground balls and earned NE-10 Second-Team All-Conference honors.
Melsopp, a mainstay on defense, started and played in all 16 games and accumulated seven points (2G, 5A), 36 ground balls and a team leading 16 caused turnovers. He was named to the All-NE-10 First-Team, All-America Second-Team, and ECAC All-Star Second-Team.
Janssen, the Panther's go-to goalkeeper was a NE-10 Second-Team selection and USILA Scholar All-American for his performance in the cage. He started in all 16 games, logged 760:01 in net and made 129 saves on 383 shots faced for a save percentage of .626, third best in Division II. Additionally, he allowed just 77 goals for a 6.08 goals against average which ranked fourth best in the country.
Junior Greg Puskkuldjian had a breakout year in 2012 as the Panther's face-off man. He started in 13 games while playing in 15 of them and led the nation with a .707 face off percentage (145-205). He also scored six goals, dished out five assists and scooped up a team leading 79 ground balls. He was a First-Team NE-10 All-Conference selection, ECAC All-Star and All-America Honorable Mention.
The Panthers will kick off the 2013 season with a home contest against cross-town rivals and pre-season #10, LIU Post at 1pm.
For a full list of pre-season All-Americans, click here.
For the full pre-season team rankings, click here.
