Holmdel, N.J. -- They helped the Adelphi University women's soccer team to the first Northeast-10 Conference championship in program history, but on Tuesday night, four former Panthers raised a different kind of trophy for the first time.

Adelphi alumni Victoria Antonino ('17), Christina Dutcher ('16), Taylor Groth ('16) and Morgan Santoro ('17) helped the Long Island Rough Riders win its first-ever United Women's Soccer (UWS) Eastern Conference Championship with a 5-1 victory over New Jersey Copa FC at St. John Vianney High School in Holmdel, N.J.

The UWS is a second-division pro-am women's league below the professional National Women's Soccer League ( NWSL), sanctioned by US Soccer through the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA). Founded in 2015 to replace the folded USL W-League, the league began play in May 2016 with 11 teams in two conferences, and currently fields 21 teams in three conferences. All of the squads in the UWS are comprised of college players, aspiring and former professionals and international players.

The victory sends Long Island into the 2017 UWS National Championship semifinals for the first time, though the team won two league titles (1995, 1997) and six regular season titles in the old USL W-League.

Santoro, who set an Adelphi single-season record for goals (24) and points (56) last fall en route to being named NE10 Player of the Year and an NSCAA Division II First Team All-American, scored twice for the Rough Riders, and Antonino was responsible for the finishing goal. Santoro scored in the 39th minute off a loose ball in the box for the visiting Rough Riders, accounting for the lone goal of the first half, before adding her second in the 51st minute of the second. As the minutes wound down, Anotnino found the bottom corner of the net in the 72nd minute to cap Long Island's scoring. 

The Brown and Gold was also represented on the other side of the pitch, as rising Adelphi senior Jeanine Nunez was a member of New Jersey Copa FC.

Antonino, Dutcher, Groth, Santoro and their Rough Rider teammates will now travel to Grandville, Mich. for the UWS national semifinals this weekend, and the two advancing teams will take the pitch on Saturday, July 22nd at 7:30 PM EDT for the 2017 UWS Championship.

Long Island (8-2-1) will face the Midwest champion Grand Rapids FC Women (10-1-1), while the other semifinal sees the West Conference champions and defending UWS title-holders Santa Clarita Blue Heat (8-0) take on Detroit Sun FC (7-2-3), the Midwest Conference runner-ups and wildcard seed. The first semifinal is 4:30 pm EDT on Friday, July 21, with the second at 7:30 pm. The UWS Championship is slated for a 7:30 pm kickoff on Saturday, July 22.

"We're so excited to have this opportunity - not just to play on this stage but to continue to play together," Dutcher said. "Our four years at Adelphi were an amazing ride, and we're looking to continue that here in the UWS. We've been able to use all that we learned at Adelphi to take us to the next level and hopefully, we'll have the chance to bring another trophy back to Long Island."
 

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About Adelphi Athletics:
Adelphi University joined the Northeast-10 Conference in the fall of 2009 and in the past eight seasons, has collected 23 regular season conference titles, 25 tournament championships, 33 individual crowns and captured the Northeast-10 Presidents' Cup four times (2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017), while winning six NCAA Division II National Championships.

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