Embrace the Championship: Adelphi Cruises to NCAA Women's Lacrosse Title Game with Semifinal Win

Embrace the Championship: Adelphi Cruises to NCAA Women's Lacrosse Title Game with Semifinal Win
Posted: May 17, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Panthers Advance to NCAA Championship Game for Fifth Time in Six Seasons.

ALLENDALE, Mich. - 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 #3 West Chester.

-Recap provided by Adelphi athletic communications office-

ABOUT THE NE10
The NE10 is an association of 15 diverse institutions serving student-athletes across 24 NCAA Division II sports. Together we build brilliant futures by embracing the journey of every student-athlete. 

Each year, 4,500 student-athletes compete in conference championships, making the NE10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the NE10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.