Garden City, N.Y. - Collecting a pair of saves with under 90 seconds to play,
Jillian McFadden and the Adelphi University women's lacrosse team secured a thrilling 14-13 win over Pace University for their second consecutive Northeast 10 Conference title on Saturday afternoon.
Series History:
- This marks the second straight season that the teams have met in the NE10 Championship game, with an identical score and result of the 2025 contest.
- Adelphi (13-4) is 14-5 all-time against Pace (14-5), dating back to the 2015 season.
Highlights:
- McFadden collected 18 saves and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2026 NE10 Championship.
- Julia Foppiano and Ashley Kolomechuk were also recognized on the All-Tournament Team for their efforts, each accounting for seven points with a combined nine goals.
- Marielle Colalillo recorded a hat trick and added two ground balls while Rita Sefransky scored a pair and also caused a trio of turnovers.
- Alexandra Stec was named the NE10 Elite 24 winner, which honors the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average (GPA) participating at the finals site at each NE10 Championship.
How It Happened:
- After Foppiano scored the opening goal within the first minute, the Setters netted the equalizer under two minutes later. Colalillo gave Adelphi the lead, which Kolomechuk later extended with a woman-up possession. Pace's Marissa Doty stormed back with a pair as the visitors added three unanswered to hold a one-goal advantage at the conclusion of the first quarter.
- The teams traded goals but it was a pair from Sefransky and Colalillo within 30 seconds of each other that put the Cats back in the lead.
- The home team stretch of three goals into the third gave Adelphi their largest lead of the afternoon - three - but that made way of Pace to put together a run of their own to make it nine-all with one frame left of regulation.
- The Panther defense used a pair of caused turnovers before Sefransky made it a two-goal game, but after another Pace draw control win at 10:12, the visitors rattled off three unanswered to shift the momentum and game in their favor to lead once more.
- Adelphi continuted to fight back, using back to back free position shots from Foppiano and Kolomechuk to solidify the Panther lead. With under 90 seconds on the clock, McFadden stopped two point-blank shots, forcing Pace to call a timeout. Despite getting one in the back of the net, the Setters caused an untimely turnover after marching down the field with 22 seconds left and one last effort at the goal to tie the contest.
Up Next:
- Women's lacrosse will automatically earn a spot in the NCAA tournament. The full East Region field will be released during the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday, May 3 at 8:30 p.m. on ncaa.com.
