Garden City, N.Y. -- The top-ranked Adelphi University women's lacrosse team will continue their quest to win another NCAA Division II National Championship crown at the Division II Festival in Denver next week, as the Panthers defeated the No. 4 seeds Dowling, 15-3, on Motamed Field in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

Jacqueline Jahelka (4G, 2A) and Rachel O'Brien (2G, 3A) combined for 11 points, while Kate Beier scored three times and dished out one helper. Michele Scannell and Danielle Montano each chipped in two goals and an assist apiece, and Rachel Aitkens and Beth Ann Pierce rounded out Adelphi's scoring.

On defense, Adelphi caused nine of Dowling's 15 turnovers, led by Jen Graham with three and Kelly Osmulski with two. Eight of Adelphi's 11 draw controls were won by Scannell, Camille Rosellini, Ryley Weber and Chelsea Abreu, while Taylor Hayes moved to 20-0 on the season with three saves in 55:29 in net.

Adelphi scored the first five goals of the game off four different sticks, with Beier the only one to score twice, as Jahelka, O'Brien and Pierce tallied for Adelphi. After Alyssa Milano got the Golden Lions on the board with 12:17 remaining in the first half, Jahelka went back-to-back off feeds from O'Brien to make it 7-1 before Scannell scored on a free-position attempt with 5:46 remaining to make it 8-1, the score at the half.

After Aitkens scored on a man-up chance just 3:22 into the second half, Adelphi tacked on three more goals to lead 12-1 with 17:33 remaining. From there, Katie Meinecke scored for Dowling for their first goal of the second half but Adelphi responded with three from Jahelka, Montano and Beier to lead 15-2 with less than four minutes on the clock. While that seemed as though it'd be the final score, Dowling scored once more with just five ticks on the clock after being awarded a free position to see the game end at 15-3.

The Panthers will face off against the Le Moyne Dolphins for the third time this year, who advanced out of the other side of the North Region by defeating LIU Post, 6-5.

NOTES
- The Panthers are looking for their second three-peat at the National Championship, having done so in 2009-11.
- Adelphi defeated Le Moyne 10-7 in the regular season, before defeating the them 13-6 in the Northeast-10 Championship.

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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 18 regular season conference titles, 22 tournament championships, 29 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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