North Andover, Mass. - Rachel O'Brien, Emily Keesling and Jacqueline Jahelka powered the top ranked Adelphi University lacrosse team (10-0, 7-0 NE-10) past Merrimack College (4-7, 1-6 NE-10), combining for 18 points, 18-4 in a Northeast-10 victory this afternoon.

O'Brien led all players with a game-high seven points on three goals and four assists, while Keesling chipped in a goal and five assists and Jahelka added a game-high five goals. Danielle Montano and Rachel Aitkens also had strong afternoons offensively, Montano scored once and was credited with three assists, while Aitkens picked up two tallies and had one assist.

Defensively, five different players caused turnovers for the Panthers, while Michele Scannell led all players with five draw controls. Kate Beier was active in the midfield grabbing three ground balls and Scannell and Aitkens picked up two each. Taylor Hayes earned her 10th win of the season, making two stops, and Hailey Peterson also made two stops in nearly 19 minutes of action. 

Adelphi kicked off the scoring on an O'Brien free position, but Merrimack got on the board just 93 seconds later, knotting the action at one all. Then the Panther offense got rolling, sparked by a Kate Beier goal, off a Keesling assist, that jump started an eight goal run that ended with a free position tally from Beth Ann Pierce at the 5:31 mark of the first half, 9-1. 

Merrimack scored their second goal of the half with just nine seconds left on the clock, sending the game into the intermission at 9-2. The second half started with another Adelphi goal, this time off the stick of Jahelka. The Brown and Gold scored five more goals before their second run was done, taking control of the game, 15-2, with less then 20 minutes left in the game. 

The scoring would be relatively even the rest of the way, with Adelphi putting three more balls in the back of the Warrior goal, but the hosts put two goals of their own on the board, making the final count, 18-4 in favor of Adelphi.

The Panthers return to the field on Wednesday, April 13 when they travel north to West Haven, Connecticut for a 4:00 pm game with the University of New Haven. 

Notes:
- Adelphi is now 15-1 all-time against Merrimack College and 19-1 against the University of New Haven. 
- The Panthers currently have two of the top three point scorers in the NE-10, Jahelka (1st - 57) and O'Brien (3rd - 47).
 

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About Adelphi 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, 21 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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