Waltham, Mass. - Making its tenth appearance in a Northeast-10 Conference title game, the Adelphi University women's lacrosse team suffered a 8-9 loss to Bentley University on Sunday afternoon, concluding the 2021 campaign. 

The Panthers (9-4) are 7-3 in the finals, taking losses in 2013 and 2018, both to Le Moyne College who they beat on Thursday to advance to the championship. 

Kerry Ann Flavin and Alyssa Gillespie earned inclusion on the 2021 NE10 All-Championship Team as Alison Johnson was honored with the Elite 24 Award, which honors the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average (GPA) participating at the finals site at each NE10 Championship.

Adelphi got out to a slow start, falling behind 2-0 after two early goals from the Falcons (12-2) but found the back of the cage at 13:19 when Kerrin Heuser scored unassisted. A foul on Bentley awarded a free position attempt to the Panthers almost two minutes later, which Kole Pollock converted to tie the game at two-all. 

Shots from both sides were stopped by the team's respective goalies, until the visiting team got its first lead courtesy of Gillespie. Adelphi stretched their lead by scoring their fourth unanswered when Christina McCabe converted a free position to make it 4-2 heading into halftime. 

Bentley came out of the break on fire, scoring two before as many minutes were off the clock to make it a tie game once again at 4-4. A turnover for the Falcons, caused by Johnson set the Brown and Gold back down the field, allowing Gillespie to add another, this time assisted by Pollock. At 19:46 Pollock and Johnson connected for the final time of their careers, extending the Adelphi lead back to two. 

Sydney Lynch of Bentley sparked a 4-0 run for the home team and no. 1 seed out of the Northeast Division, to quickly shift momentum in their favor with under 12 minutes left to play. Pollock's hat trick goal was the result of another foul in front of the cage that gave her a free position opportunity. 

Bentley's Eliza Bresler stopped nine shots for the contest - en route to being named the Championship MVP - including two after Adelphi's seventh goal. The Panthers tried to get things going in the closing minutes after a tally from Molly Fetherston brought them within one, but it was too late. 

This is the first time in program history that Bentley has won the NE10 Conference Championship. 

Adelphi appeared in the last installment of the regional rankings at no. 6, however the NCAA Selection Show will choose three teams for the East Region to continue on for the NCAA tournament this evening at 7:30 p.m.