Garden City, N.Y. - Matching up with Northeast-10 Conference foe in #11 Pace University, the #2 Adelphi University women's lacrosse team used a stretch of 18 unanswered goals en route to a 21-4 victory Wednesday evening.
The Panthers (8-1, 7-0 NE10) were fueled by leading scorers
Lena Riportella and
Kole Pollock, who were responsible for six and four goals, respectively. Topping all players in points was
Alison Johnson who notched one goal and matched her career-high seven assists to finish with eight.
Kaitlyn Stackpole did her part on defense by causing four turnovers (also matching her career-high) as
Emma Lemanski earned her sixth straight, collecting four saves between the pipes.
The battery of Pollock and Johnson was first to strike nearly three minutes into the opening frame to get things going for Adelphi, but the contest was quickly knotted at one when Stephanie Chadnick got the Setters (5-3, 2-2 NE10) on the board. After Riportella's first tally almost four minutes later however, the hosts got hot, scoring the next nine in the remaining 20 minutes to hold an 11-1 advantage at halftime. Johnson had a hand in five of Adelphi's tallies in the opener alone, as
Beth Ann Pierce, Jillian Graziano, and
Chelsea Abreu chipped in on offense.
Starting off the second half, Riportella and Abreu notched goals, both in man-up and man-down possessions to keep the clock running over the visitors. The run of goals that came from the home team eventually reached 18 unanswered, until Mary Kate Lonegan buried a free position shot past Lemanski to make it 19-2. Pace University came back with the next two goals to cut into their deficit, but with two more tallies from the Brown and Gold, the advantage was too much to overcome.
Alyssa Gillespie and Abreu earned the final two goals for Adelphi, resulting in a 21-4 decision.
The team is back in action as the first game of an NE10 double feature on Saturday, March 31. The Panthers host Saint Michael's College at 12:00 p.m. with the men to follow at approximately 3:00 p.m. on Motamed Field.
About Adelphi Athletics
Adelphi University joined the Northeast-10 Conference in the fall of 2009, and in the past eight seasons, has collected 26 regular season conference titles, 28 tournament championships, 37 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.
