Garden City, N.Y. – Second-ranked Adelphi University scored 10 unanswered goals in the second half en route to a 16-6 win over the 10th-ranked Le Moyne College women's lacrosse team on Wednesday afternoon in Northeast-10 Conference action at Motamed Field.
The Dolphins, who were ranked fifth in the first North Region rankings of the season released earlier in the day, got on the scoreboard first just under two minutes into the game as sophomore attacker Claire Monnat (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) finished off a pass from senior attacker Kathleen Conese (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool).
The Panthers, the highest scoring team in the nation at 18.57 goals per game, took the lead with three goals in a span of 3:33 after being held scoreless for the opening 7:11 of the game. Alexa Froccaro tied the score at one apiece with an unassisted goal with 22:49 remaining, while Rachel O'Brien put the Panthers in front with a free-position goal with 21:03 left. Jackie Jahelka extended the lead to two with an unassisted goal 47 seconds late.
The Dolphins answered back with three straight goals. Graduate student attacker Marley Ciferri (Ithaca, N.Y./Ithaca/Syracuse) started the run by converting a free-position shot with 16:06 left in the half. Sophomore midfielder Kaitlyn Armstrong (Oswego, N.Y./Oswego) tied the score at three apiece with 13:32 remaining after taking a pass from Ciferri in an extra-man situation. Ciferri picked up her second straight assist by finding Conese for the go-ahead goal with 11:13 left.
The three-goal streaks continued as the Panthers scored three times in a stretch of 1:31 to regain the lead. Devan Crimi, the second-leading scorer in the nation at 98 points on 62 goals and 36 assists, evened the score at four with an unassisted goal 50 seconds after Conese scored. O'Brien gave her team the lead for the second time with an unassisted tally 56 seconds later, while Froccaro netted a free-position goal 35 seconds after that.
Junior attacker Catie McKay (Penfield, N.Y./Our Lady of Mercy) scored the last goal of the half to trim Le Moyne's deficit to one by finishing off a feed from Ciferri with 8:15 remaining.
After being held scoreless for a span of 14:08, the Panthers scored 10 straight goals in the second half to blow the game open. Froccaro started the outburst with an unassisted goal with 24:44 remaining. Just under five minutes later, Kate Beier netted a free-position goal, while Emily Keesling followed with a goal off a feed from Jahelka 4:57 later. Following seven minutes and 18 seconds without a goal, Danielle Jaycox found the back of the net after taking a pass from Jahelka with 7:34 left. Rachel Aitkens gave the Panthers an 11-5 lead with 6:07 remaining, while Crimi picked up her second goal of the day 36 seconds later. Keesling followed with consecutive goals 2:43 apart off feeds from Crimi and Meg Brown. Felicia Mills won the draw off Keesling's second goal and raced in to score her fourth goal of the season with 1:46 to go. Jaycox tallied Adelphi's final goal with 1:01 left for a 16-5 advantage.
McKay snapped Le Moyne's scoreless drought of 37:50 by finishing off a pass from Conese with 25 seconds remaining.
Junior goalkeeper Molly Marbut (Edgewater, Md./South River) made 14 saves, but suffered her first loss of the season between the pipes. Taylor Hayes improved to 14-0 after making four saves.
Le Moyne (9-4, 6-3 NE-10), which only dropped two conference games in its first three years in the NE-10, returns home to face Saint Anselm College on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. Prior to the opening draw, the senior class of Ciferri, Conese, Anna Daucher (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool), Megan Collins (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) and Victoria Nies (Syracuse, N.Y./Jamesville-DeWitt) will be honored by the Dolphin Athletic Association for their contributions to the program.
