Adelphi Women’s Lacrosse Wins Third Straight National Championship in 2011

Posted: Mar 29, 2021

Adelphi joined the Northeast-10 prior to the 2009-10 Academic Year, bringing a handful of impressive programs to compete in the NE10. However, none was more impressive than it’s women’s lacrosse program which was coming off a national championship and 18-0 record in 2009. The Panthers continued their dominance when they entered the NE10 as they didn’t lose a conference contest over their first two seasons while claiming the 2010 & 2011 NCAA Titles for an impressive National Championship three-peat.

Under the guidance of now-Stony Brook Head Women's Lacrosse Coach Joe Spallina, the Adelphi women's lacrosse team had quite a few hurdles to clear, in its efforts to repeat as national champions in 2010. They proved up to the challenge, starting the season on a 15-game win streak before a non-conference loss in their regular season finale to LIU Post.

In the NE10 Tournament, they breezed into the finals where they faced off against NE10 powerhouse Stonehill. In double overtime, Marissa Mills tallied the game-winner for the 14-13 victory. In the NCAA Tournament, the Panthers avenged their lone loss with a 14-9 win over the Pioneers and then capped off their championship run with a 17-7 victory over West Chester.

Led by reigning NE10 Player of the Year and IWLCA Attacker of the Year Claire Petersen, Adelphi had its eyes set on a three-peat in 2011. What made it even more enticing was that they had the opportunity to hoist a national championship on their home turf. Adelphi was awarded the bid as the host of the NCAA Division II National Championship.

Until that point though, in Division II women's lacrosse history, only two schools had ever won a national title on their home field -- the last being Stonehill in 2003.

The Panthers had their motivation. Of its 16 regular-season victories, Adelphi tallied 20 or more goals in 14 of those contests and outscored their opposition by a nation-leading average of 16.68 goals per game.

That year, Adelphi led all of Division II in every scoring category -- scoring offense (21.2 goals scored per game), scoring defense (5.95 goals allowed per game), scoring margin (+15.25 goals per game) and total points (679).

The Panthers met Le Moyne for the NE10 Championship. Le Moyne's women's lacrosse team spent 10 seasons (2001-10) as an NCAA Division I program, before reclassifying to Division II in 2011. Adelphi was held to its lowest single-game scoring output of the regular season at Le Moyne, but still prevailed on the road, 11-9.

In the re-match, the Panthers jumped out to a 9-1 first-half lead, behind five goals from the tournament's Most Valuable Player Erica Devito, and went on to a 17-13 victory, defending their NE10 title in the process.

Adelphi and Le Moyne would face off for a third time in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II National Tournament. With home-field advantage again on Adelphi's side, the Panthers led 9-4 at halftime and opened the second half on a 9-3 run to break the game open. Adelphi ultimately completed the season sweep of Le Moyne with an 18-13 victory and secured its spot in the national final.

The Panthers were now a win away from becoming the first Division II women's lacrosse team to three-peat as national champions. Limestone was the last hurdle that stood in Adelphi's way.

In what was the largest margin of victory, to-date, in national championship history, the Panthers, on the heels of four-goal performances by Devito, Elizabeth Fey and Marissa Mills, defeated the Saints at Motamed Field, 17-4.

Adelphi remains the only Division II program and one of just four women's lacrosse teams (Maryland, Northwestern, TCNJ) in NCAA history to ever win three consecutive national championships.

Petersen and Devito both eclipsed the 100-point plateau in 2011, with totals of 182 and 106 points, respectively. Petersen's 125 points and 182 assists still stand as the all-time Division II single-season records for those categories. Her career average of 5.10 assists per game is an NCAA record, as well.

The 2011 season was the curtain call for Joe Spallina, who accepted the role of head women's lacrosse coach at Stony Brook University -- a position he has continued to hold since 2012. Spallina, a two-time NE10 Coach of the Year and three-time IWLCA National Coach of the Year, departed Adelphi with a 72-2 record (.973 winning percentage) after four seasons (2008-11).

Adelphi Women's Lacrosse Links of Note:

ABOUT THE NE10
Beginning its 40th anniversary season, the NE10 is an association of 14 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 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 24 sports, 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.