Nov. 8, 2007

Garden City, N.Y. - The Adelphi men's soccer team locked up the third seed in the Atlantic Soccer Conference (ASC) tournament on November 3 with a 2-1 victory over rival NJIT. The Panthers secured the seed in dramatic fashion as standout junior forward Patrick Figueiredo slotted the ball into the Highlander net as time expired.

This will be the third ASC tournament in the eight year exsitance of the conference. The Panthers made their first tournament appearance in 2006 as the number one seed and host. That season Adelphi defended its home turf with a semi-final win over Philadelphia (1-0) and a championship game victory over Florida Atlantic (3-2).

The win gave the Panthers their first ASC tournament title to match its first regular season title and a berth into the 2006 NCAA Division I tournament. Figueiredo was one of five Panthers to make the all-tournament team after netting what would be the game winner in the finals.

Figueiredo picked up right where he left off in 2006, earning a spot on the M.A.C. Hermann trophy watch list. The M.A.C. Hermann trophy is awarded to the best player in Division I men's soccer.

Besides sending the Panthers to the post season, Figueiredo is responsible for over 50 percent of Adelphi's offense (20 goals) despite being double and triple teamed during games. He has scored a team-high 11 goals, that total also leads the ASC, the next closest player has six. He is also 16th in the nation in goals per game (0.65) and 45th in points per game (1.29).

Three of his 11 goals have been game winners. In addition to the NJIT game winner Figueiredo has sent Adelphi off the pitch victorious in back-to-back games against Fordham (10/7) and Philadelphia (10/13), scoring two goals in each game.

The Panthers will play either Longwood or Howard in the first round of the ASC tournament and will be looking for revenge, having lost to both teams by the score of 2-1.