March 18, 2007

Manchester, N.H. - Trailing 8-10 in the final minutes of the second half, the Adelphi University women's lacrosse team mounted a furious rally to hold off Saint Anslem in an 11-10 final on Sunday afternoon at the Hampshire Dome. The Panthers remain unbeaten at 3-0, while handing the Hawks their first loss to fall to 3-1 overall.

Saint Anselm jumped on top early with an unassisted score from Kelsey Johnson (Byfield, Mass.) just 1:14 into the game. Adelphi rallied quickly though with three unanswered scores, including a pair from Danielle Kafarski (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.), to surge to a 3-1 lead with 17:33 remaining in the opening period. After the Hawks regained the lead at 4-3, the two teams traded goals and Saint Anselm held a 7-6 advantage at the half. This marked the first time since May 14, 2005 that the Panthers trailed a game at halftime.

In the second half, Saint Anselm extended the lead to 8-6 on the second goal of the game from Tiea Kurlowecz (Concord, Mass.) to take an 8-6 advantage with 26:52 left. Adelphi's Rachel Ray (Rocky Point, N.Y.) notched her second goal of the afternoon to pull her team within a goal at 8-7 before Michaela Rocha (Rye, N.H.) pushed the cushion back to two with a score at the 15:16 mark. The back-and-forth affair continued and Saint Anselm scored its final tally of the game with 8:37 remaining off the stick of senior Colleen Sheehan (N. Andover, Mass.). That set the stage for the heroics of Adelphi's Lauren Lopez (Farmingville, N.Y.), who tallied a trio of goals over the final 3:15 of the contest to give the Panthers the win. She tallied the game winner with 55 seconds left in the contest.

Freshman goalie Allie DiRico (Royersford, Pa.) was impressive, making 18 saves for Saint Anselm.

Saint Anselm senior Lauren Glancy (Scituate, Mass.) finished with four goals and one assist to lead all scorers with five points. Lopez tallied four goals for the Panthers. Three other Panthers notched at least two goals in the contest.

Adelphi returns to action next Saturday, March 24 as they host the University of New Haven at 1:00 p.m.

Courtesy Saint Anselm Sports Information