Gregory Puskuldjian completed his four years at Adelphi University and graduated this spring with a Degree in Business and an incredible lacrosse legacy as a faceoff man playing for the Adelphi Panthers.
Puskuldjian, a Glen Head native, joined Adelphi after graduation from North Shore High School, looking for an opportunity for a good education but to also to play lacrosse. Puskuldjian dabbled in many sports while he was younger and many remember him as a hockey and soccer player, but he always loved lacrosse.
In 2010 Puskuldjian joined the Adelphi Panthers as a walk on and did not see a lot of action as a freshman. He was the No. 5 faceoff man and handled only four faceoffs his first year.
“As a freshman, his stick skills were incredibly poor,” said Adelphi’s coach Gordon Purdie. “After his first year he was our No. 5 faceoff guy and going into his second year, he was our No. 4 faceoff guy, which was low guy on the totem pole. He was that guy where everybody looked at him and said, ‘C’mon Greg,’ because — and I hate to say this — he was a bit of a drill-buster.”
Between the 2011 fall ball and 2012 season, his sophomore year, Puskuldjian completely transformed his game. He shed weight while training for a marathon and went out to the practice field every day to work on faceoffs. He recorded several ‘down-set-whistle’ cadences into his iPhone and would put it on a loop as he trained by himself. He would practice 100 face-offs a day.
Puskuldjian was after a starting position and he got that chance as a 2011, winning 19 of 22 faceoffs in his first start and never looked back. In his sophomore and junior seasons, Puskuldjian had the best face off winning percentage in the county, averaging a 70 percent win percentage.
Puskuldjian credits much of his success to his coaches, Purdie and Joe Catalanotti, who encouraged him to work hard, but also credits much of his success to coach Mike McGowan, the Chief of Police for the Hempstead Police Department. McGowan is a volunteer coach on the Adelphi coaching staff who worked with Puskuldjian at every practice.
McGowan meticulously watched Greg and offered encouragement and pointers on how he could improve. The two became the most unlikely of partners with McGowan saying “I just love being around Greg, he works so hard”.
Puskuldjian’s lacrosse accomplishments are astonishing. He is a three-time All American, three-year All Conference Northeast 10 selection, Adelphi Sophomore Athlete of The Year, Adelphi Junior Athlete of the Year, Division II 2014 Specialty Player of the Year, 2012 and 2013 Division II Face Off champion.
Puskuldjian capped the 2014 season off by breaking the single season ground ball record as well as the all time ground ball record at Adelphi and was selected as Adelphi’s 2014 Athlete of the Year.
