GARDEN CITY, N.Y.—The host Adelphi Panthers scored a pair of early goals and was able to ride that margin to a 4-2 victory over the visiting Bellarmine Knights this afternoon in a nonconference, NCAA DII game at Motamed Field.

Just 3:58 into the action, the Panthers' Rachel Colvin collected a rebound off a shot and stuffed it past Bellarmine goalkeeper Alexandra Moro to give Adelphi a 1-0 advantage.  Then on the ensuing re-start, Adelphi's Molly Cuevas got loose on a breakaway and scored just 12 seconds after the first goal to give the host Panthers a 2-0 lead.

The Knights tried to make a quick response, but shots by Hannah Doll and Aimee Ilgenfritz came up empty.  The game then turned into a defensive battle until the Panthers struck again in the 33rd minute of the opening period. 

This time the Knights did have a quick answer as Alexis Van Wallaghen converted a penalty stroke with five seconds remaining in the half to trim the AU lead to just 3-1 at the break.

The Panthers fired off a shot 48 seconds into the second period, but Bellarmine's Sara Nicolas successfully saved that attempt.  The defenses again stepped up as neither team got a shot off until Adelphi's Mary Plotas registered a goal with 10:01 left in the game.

The Knights came back with a goal by Lillie Nitzken with 2:04 remaining to make the final score 4-2.

For the game, Adelphi held significant advantages in both shots (16-5) and shots on goal (11-3) while Bellarmine stopped seven Panther shots and the Adelphi goalkeepers recorded just one save.

The Panthers extend their winning streak to three games and now stand 3-2 overall while the Knights slip to an even 2-2 on the year.

Bellarmine returns to action Sunday afternoon with a game at St. Thomas Aquinas.

BOX SCORE (HTM)