Garden City, N.Y. - Alison Johnson put up a career-high in both points and assists to help No. 2 Adelphi University women's lacrosse to a 21-5 defeat of American International in its conference opener Wednesday evening.
Behind the table-setting of Johnson,
Kole Pollock notched her fourth straight game scoring four goals as
Lena Riportella and
Alyssa Gillespie both chipped in three tallies of their own. Seven other members found the back of the net, with four different players scoring twice.
Beth Ann Pierce coupled her solo goal with three assists to finish third in line with four points on the evening. Defensively the Panthers (2-1, 1-0 NE10) were anchored by
Kerry Ann Flavin who finished the contest with five caused turnovers.
The Yellow Jackets (0-2, 0-2 NE10) put up the first goal of the night less than a minute into the opening half when Devin Coulter found Brittany Hutchison who snuck past
Hailey Peterson in the cage for Adelphi. Peterson, who got the start and the win while only playing the opening 30 minutes, ended the game with two saves. From the initial goal courtesy of AIC, Adelphi ripped off the next nine goals to jump out to a commanding eight-goal lead.
In that nine-goal run, NE10 Player of the Week
Lena Riportella kept her shot-on-goal streak alive with the first tally for the Brown and Gold.
Allison Stackpole scored in a man-up possession with 9:31 remaining in the first to keep the visitors at bay, and after trading goals Johnson and Gillespie connected - not once, but three times, in the final four minutes - to push the clock to running time before the half expired.
The home team kept AIC scoreless for much of the second frame until the Jackets broke the silence at 12:41, but Adelphi still held on to a 16-goal advantage.
Emma Lemanski and
Emily Perry both saw time in between the pipes for the Panthers in the second frame, with the first responsible for two saves.
Nicki Stanco registered two goals for AU in the closing 18 minutes of action as
Christina Ferrara collected three points courtesy of two assists and a goal. AIC's last goal was recorded at 3:33, a shot from Coulter off a pass from Mary Bates, but the hosts held the upper hand in nearly every category except successful free position shots (0-4) and saves.
The women's lacrosse program returns to action on Saturday, March 10, traveling to Merrimack College for a 3:30 p.m. matchup.
About Adelphi Athletics
Adelphi University joined the Northeast-10 Conference in the fall of 2009, and in the past eight seasons, has collected 25 regular season conference titles, 26 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.
For the latest on Adelphi University Athletics, follow the Panthers at www.aupanthers.com or via social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Snapchat.
