Senior Kayla Green led the Skyhawks with two goals and an assist. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes)

Crimi and Sangiorgio lead Panthers to fourth-straight NE-10 Championship tilt

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (May 4, 2013) – Second-seeded Adelphi University, ranked fifth in this week's Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Division II poll, held off third-seeded and 9^th-ranked Stonehill College, to claim an 11-7 victory in semifinal round action of the 2013 Northeast-10 Conference Women's Lacrosse Tournament, hosted by top-seeded Le Moyne College, at Ted Grant Field this afternoon.

Adelphi (17-1, 11-1 NE-10) advances to the NE-10 Championship game for the fourth-straight year and will be gunning for a fourth-straight title when it clashes with host Le Moyne (15-2, 11-1 NE-10), ranked fourth in the IWLCA Division II poll, tomorrow at 1 p.m. The Dolphins advanced with a 15-7 victory over fourth-seeded University of New Haven in today's first semifinal. Stonehill (13-6, 10-2 NE-10) awaits word on a seventh NCAA Tournament appearance when bids are announced during a selection show on www.ncaa.com tomorrow night at 8 p.m.

Junior Devan Crimi (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) and senior Sara Sangiorgio (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) led Adelphi to the victory with a combined ten points. Crimi played a role in six of the Panthers 11 goals with a goal and five assists for six points, while Sangiorgio netted a game-high four goals. Freshman Rachel O'Brien (Bayport, N.Y./Bayport-Blueport) added three goals, while sophomore Felicia Mills (Islip, N.Y./Islip) contributed a goal and seven draw controls.

Junior Kelsey Shannahan scored a pair of goals for the Skyhawks. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes)

Junior Jordann Dempsey (Sparks, Md./Hereford) preserved the win for Adelphi with seven saves, stopping three of five free-position shots against her as the Panthers finished with a 25-16 advantage in shots for the contest and held an 11-9 edge in draw controls. Adelphi forced 20 Stonehill turnovers, with 13 caused turnovers for the afternoon. Sophomore Ashley Armstrong (Northborough, Mass./Algonquin Regional) finished with eight saves for the Skyhawks, including six of seven free-position shots by Adelphi.

Senior Kayla Green (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) led Stonehill with two goals and an assist for three points. Junior Kelsey Shannahan (Mendham, N.J./Morris Catholic) scored two goals, while classmate Mary Lee Mahony (Yardley, Pa./Villa Joseph Marie) dished two assists. Senior All-American Kelsey Reilly (Hingham, Mass./Notre Dame Academy) contributed a goal and assist with four draw controls, while classmate Heather Sullivan (Andover, Mass./Andover) also registered a goal and assist with two ground balls and a caused turnover.

Adelphi scored the first two goals of the game roughly a minute and a half apart after a scoreless opening seven minutes. O'Brien opened the scoring with a free-position goal 7:02 into the game before Crimi set up Sangiorgio with 21:22 left in the half. Shannahan scored the first Stonehill goal ten and a half minutes into the half, assisted by Reilly.

Sangiorgio pushed the Adelphi lead back to two with her second goal of the afternoon with 18:18 remaining. Reilly scored off a Green feed with 14:59 left in the half to draw back within a goal (3-2), but Adelphi scored three straight to open a four goal lead with 6:58 on the clock. Sangiorgio scored a third goal of the half, assisted by Crimi, during that stretch which had three different goal scorers.

Shannahan pulled Stonehill back within three at halftime her second of the day off a free-position shot with 5:34 to play. Adelphi scored the first two goals of the second half over the opening four minutes on markers from O'Brien and Crimi to take a five goal lead.

Neither team scored for over 13 minutes before Green scored Stonehill's first two goals of the second half for Stonehill just 39-seconds apart to pull the Skyhawks back within three (8-5) with 11:48 left. Crimi set up goals by Sangiorgio and Mills 33-seconds apart to reclaim its five goal lead (10-5) with 8:49 on the clock. Mahony set up two Stonehill goals over the final 3:03, but Adelphi hung on from there.

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