Allendale, MI - With only two possible games remaining in the 2019 season, a 17-10 victory over Regis University on Friday not only earned Adelphi women's lacrosse a spot in the NCAA Division II National Championship, but marked the 100th career win for Head Coach
Pat McCabe.
An all-Adelphi (18-3) first half made way for the fourth-seed to take down the undefeated Rangers (20-1) out of the Midwest region at the GVSU lacrosse field. The Brown and Gold managed to jump out to an 11-4 advantage after the opening 30 minutes of action, largely in part to five different goal scorers. Leading the way was
Kole Pollock, who netted all four of her tallies in the first half.
The Rangers struck first in the 11:00 a.m. matchup, in teams' third meeting in history, after three minutes of play. The Panthers saw an equalizer come from
Allison Stackpole nearly 30 seconds later, sparking a five-goal run that put them ahead by four about halfway through. Regis finally found a way past
Emma Lemanski, with the help of leading scorer Sarah Myres, but Pollock and Stackpole each recorded a strike to push the lead back to five.
After trading turnovers and a saved shot from Elle Crawford, the Rangers stormed back down the field and scored, however it was the Panthers who collected four of the last five goals in the half to lead by seven heading into the break.
The opening 11 minutes of the second frame were commanded by Regis, who scored four straight to only trail the fourth-seed by three. A slight manpower shift for Adelphi matched up lefty
Molly Fetherston with the Regis defense, as she came on and scored, jump starting the attack for the Panthers. It was the seasoned tournament team that scored the next two before the Ranger's scored their penultimate tally of the contest, still trailing by five with 11:07 to play.
Settling back into running their offense, the Brown and Gold scored two more in a matter of a minute and saved their last goal with 1:36 remaining on the clock as
Alison Johnson connected with Stackpole. The Rangers didn't go without a fight, getting the last word with their 10 goal of the game with under a minute left, but the deficit was too great to overcome.
Adelphi won the ground ball game and held an advantage in caused turnovers while also commanding the draw with 20 wins compared to Regis's nine. Today's game marked just the third trip to the NCAA tournament for the Rangers, and second appearance in the national semifinal.
The Panthers will return to their fifth Division II title game in the last six years, on Sunday, May 19. They will take on the winner of the other semifinal contest featuring #3 West Chester and #2 Queens (N.C.).
About Adelphi Athletics
A regionally and nationally competitive NCAA Division II institution located in Garden City, N.Y., Adelphi University has been a proud member of the Northeast-10 Conference since 2009.
Winners of 16 NCAA Division II National Championships and four NE10 Presidents' Cups, Panther athletes have excelled at the conference, regional and national level, both on the field of play and in the classroom. In turn, the Adelphi athletic department is committed to fostering an environment of diversity, inclusion, equity and success where its student-athletes can thrive both on campus and off.
Stay connected with Adelphi Athletics by following the Panthers at aupanthers.com or via social media on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and wear your Panther pride by shopping official Adelphi Panthers gear at our licensed team store.
