Garden City, N.Y. - In a nailbiter to the finish, the No. 1 seed Adelphi University softball team was upset by No. 6 seed Saint Anselm College in the NE10 Championship final on Saturday afternoon.

With the loss, the Panthers (31-19, 17-5 NE10) snapped a 17-game winning streak at Janet L. Ficke Field. The Brown and Gold have also earned at least a runner-up finish in the NE10 Championship in the last seven seasons, dating back to 2017. 

In what was nearly deja vu from the 2022 NE10 Championship, Saint Anselm's Haile Hicks and Adelphi's Lindsey Hibbs put on a show. The first three innings saw both teams threaten, with the Hawks putting two runners on in the first, and the 'Cats putting a runner 60 feet from home in the following two frames. 

In the sixth, a key error by Kaitlyn Klepper at second base put a visiting runner on third, but a clutch strikeout from Hibbs thwarted that momentum. Conversely, in the home half, Jaden Farhat advancing to second proved fruitless after two consecutive putouts. 

As the game reached extra innings, it was a clutch two-out double from Sam Wiberg that brought in the only two runs of the contest, breaking the deadlock. Despite a single from Zee Zee Shreter in the bottom half, the 'Cats were unable to put on any more pressure, ending their quest of a three-peat. 

"It's always great to be here in front of our home fans with our senior group... I have a lot of respect for Saint A's, it's always a grind all the way through with them," noted Head Coach Carla Campagna. "(Hicks) is unstoppable, she really puts her team on her back and it shows going from a six seed into a champion," she added. 

"This is the first step.. hopefully we can host again (in the NCAA Tournament) and get back to more softball," she concluded. 

Campagna and Adelphi will now await their fate during the NCAA Division II Softball selection show, taking place on Monday (May 6) at 10 a.m. on NCAA.com.