Mansfield, Mass. - The Adelphi University women's soccer team will have the opportunity to defend home turf this postseason, as the No. 2 seed in the 2023 NE10 Championship.

It is the highest tournament seeding for the Panthers since 2017, when Brooke DeRosa's 'Cats -- as a No. 1 seed -- won their last of three consecutive NE10 regular-season titles.

Last year, Adelphi snapped an eight-year championship final appearance drought, after Madison Apicella delivered the winning overtime goal at Franklin Pierce in the semifinals.

This fall, Apicella went down with a season-ending injury in the opening minutes of the team's Sept. 30 match at Southern New Hampshire University. The 'Cats still went a full month without a loss, posting an unbeaten 4-0-3 mark in Apicella's absence. Gia Mandile has led the Panthers with five goals and 11 points in that span.

Offensively, DeRosa's squad has put up 33 goals and 22 assists for 88 points in 2023 -- all of which only trail top seed and No. 1 ranked The College of Saint Rose for the conference lead.

The Brown and Gold will first be put to the test against No. 7 seed American International College in the quarterfinals on Sunday (Nov. 5) at 1 p.m. at Motamed Field.

A week ago, the two NE10 rivals went head-to-head at Motamed Field for their regular-season meeting, where Kayla Mushorn's second-half brace rallied the 'Cats to a 3-1 come-from-behind victory at home.

All but one meeting between Adelphi and AIC since 2004 has been decided by two goals or fewer. Six of those contests have needed overtime -- the last of which came in the NE10 Tournament in 2019, when AIC prevailed on penalty kicks.

The winner will play either third-seeded Southern New Hampshire or sixth-seeded Bentley in Thursday's semifinal round, with the advancing team securing its spot in the 2023 NE10 Championship final -- set to be played at the highest remaining seed next Sunday (Nov. 12).

All home playoff games will be carried live on NE10NOW.tv and Live Stats at the following link.

2023 NE10 Women's Soccer Championship (all played at higher seeds)
Quarterfinals - Sunday, Nov. 5
Match 1: #8 Southern Connecticut at #1 Saint Rose - 2 p.m.
Match 2: #7 American International at #2 Adelphi - 1 p.m.
Match 3: #6 Bentley at #3 Southern New Hampshire - 4 p.m.
Match 4: #5 Saint Anselm at #4 Franklin Pierce - 1 p.m.

Semifinals - Thursday, Nov. 9
Match 5: Winner of Match 1 vs. Winner of Match 4 - TBA
Match 6: Winner of Match 2 vs. Winner of Match 3 - TBA

Championship - Sunday, Nov. 12
Match 7: Winner of Match 5 vs. Winner of Match 6 - TBA