May 8, 2011
Box Score/
Photo Gallery
Garden City, N.Y. - The top ranked Adelphi women's lacrosse team captured their second straight Northeast-10 Tournament title, 17-11 over second seed LeMoyne on Sunday, May 8 on Motamed Field. The Panthers used a 9-0 run in the first half, building a 9-1 cushion on the way to victory. With the win Adelphi matches the program's record for wins in a season with 18.
Erica Devito led the way with seven points on seven goals, while Claire Petersen chipped in five points on one goal and four assists. Marissa Mills and Elizabeth Fey also had strong games as Mills had four points on three goals and one helper and Fey found the back of the Dolphin net three times.
Katelynn Ciaci led the defense with three caused turnovers and Jacqueline Williams and Kaitlyn Carter had two apiece. Six Panthers had three ground balls and Fey won six draws, while Mill was one back with five draw control wins. Frankie Caridi made 11 stops in net, collecting her 18th win of the season, while also collecting three ground balls.
Petersen, Fey and Devito were each honored with inclusion on the Northeast-10 All-Tournament team for their play during the playoffs. Devito was named tournament MVP, totaling 13 goals in two games, six in the win over Merrimack and seven in the victory over LeMoyne.
"This was an exciting win for us, it was a chance for us to prove ourselves against a great team, which is exactly what we did," Devito stated when asked about the game. "All the hard work and effort we've put into practice pays off with wins like these. Today we played with intensity, determination and most importantly heart."
LeMoyne scored the first goal of the game, just 1:16 into the action as Rebekah Elmer scored on a free position. Fey scored her first of the game just 45 ticks later to knot the game and spark a 9-0 Adelphi run, that included five in a row from Devito and gave the Panthers a 9-1 edge with 3:36 left in the half.
However, the Dolphins regrouped, getting three straight from Brittany Brigandi, all on free position shots and all in the final minute of play to enter the intermission trailing just five, 9-4.
The second half was a game of runs, as Adelphi used a 6-0 run from 17:56 to 8:43 to turn a 10-6 game into what looked like a 16-6 run away win as Mills and Devito both chipped in two during the run. But, LeMoyne again proved resilient, netting five in a row of their own, the first and last goals on free position shots, to pull to within five, 16-11, with 1:19 on the clock.
But, it was too little too late as Meg Brown put the exclamation point on Adelphi's second straight NE-10 Championship, scoring with an eight yard rip on a free position with four ticks on the clock to seal the win.
Adelphi won the statistical battle as well, taking more shots, 44-30, grabbing more ground balls, 25-19 and winning more draws 17-13.
The Panthers will now wait to hear who will join them in the NCAA Division II National Championship bracket, with the selection show airing at 9:00 pm tonight on NCAA.com.
