North Andover, Mass. --  Rylie Hammond scored both goals for Merrimack College, the #2 seeds in the East Region, to send the Adelphi University field hockey team home from the NCAA Championship, 2-1 in overtime. With the loss, Adelphi's season ends in the NCAA First Round for the second straight season, and with a 14-6 overall record.

Adelphi keeper Amanda Gargiulo was tested early in the opening half, forced to make two saves against shots by Delaney Yule just six minutes into the contest. With the momentum swinging both ways throughout the duration of the half, the first run was in favor of the Panthers, as Rachel Colvin took four penalty corners leading to five total shots that all came up empty. Moving down the field, the hosts were then awarded a total of five penalty corners, but they too were unable to score the first goal of the game. 

The Panthers carved out six more shot opportunities to close out the first half, but it was Pollich who finally converted for the Brown and Gold. Off the penalty corner, Lena Pollich took a shot and beat Merrimack keeper Madison Davis up high for the 1-0 lead. Although Adelphi was awarded another penalty corner as time expired in the opening half, nothing came of the opportunity and the Brown and Gold held that one goal lead at the half.

In the second half, an early scoring opportunity for the Panthers fell away as an Elizabeth Mercuri shot was saved by Davis before a Pollich shot was cleared out of the cage by Elizabeth Eagan for a defensive save. The Warriors continued to build momentum throughout the duration of the second half, until Hammond finally netted the equalizer in the 53rd minute. The score stayed as such for the duration of regulation, as the two squads took a combined seven shots in the closing minutes.

Adelphi's best two chances to score in extra time came consecutively at the start, as Pollich and Molly Cuevas were both denied by Davis -- the latter on a diving save punched out of the cage. After the Warriors had missed the first two shots of overtime, Hammond duly converted on the third as Gargiulo charged out of the goal to help the defense, only to be beaten to her left. 

Adelphi sees its season end after winning the first regular season Northeast-10 Conference title in program history, as well as an appearance in the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row. 

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About Adelphi University Athletics
Adelphi University joined the Northeast-10 Conference in the fall of 2009 and in the past six seasons has collected 16 regular season conference titles, 20 tournament championships, 27 individual crowns and captured the Northeast-10 President's Cup twice (2013 and 2014), while winning five NCAA Division II National Championships.

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