Junior Elizabeth Vetter scored her fifth goal of the season in tonight's setback. |
Skyhawks rally to within two goals in second half before Panthers pull away late
EASTON, Mass. (March 22, 2016) – Adelphi University, ranked No. 1 in both the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Division II poll and the Nike/Lacrosse Magazine Top 15, scored the first five goals of the contest and didn't look back in posting a 13-3 triumph over Stonehill College, ranked 15th in the IWLCA poll and 14th in the Lacrosse Magazine Top 15, in Northeast-10 Conference women's lacrosse action at W.B. Mason Stadium tonight.
Senior Rachel O'Brien (Bayport, New York/Bayport-Blue Point) tallied six points with three goals and three assists and junior Jacqueline Jahelka (Garden City, New York/Garden City) scored four goals to lead Adelphi to the road win over Stonehill. Senior Emily Keesling (Bel Air, Maryland/Patterson Mill) added four points with a goal and three assists, while classmate Rachel Aitkens (Whitehouse Station, New Jersey) netted three goals. Sophomore Beth Ann Pierce (Middleburg, Virginia/ Saint John's Catholic Prep) and junior Kate Beier (West Islip, New York/West Islip) chipped in with a goal apiece.
Senior Taylor Hayes (Rockville Center, New York/Kellenberg) earned the win in goal for Adelphi and improved to 5-0 on the year, making two saves in the full 60:00. The Panthers posted a 21-5 advantage in shots for the contest and forced 19 Stonehill turnovers while committing 15. Adelphi also held a 12-6 edge in draw controls. Sophomore Kaitlyn Hess (Guilderland, New York/Guilderland) stopped four shots, including one save on a free-position shot for the Skyhawks.
Junior Kiki Ryan (Salem, Connecticut/East Lyme) led Stonehill with a goal and two assists to go with a groundball. Senior Rebecca Matheson (Reading, Massachusetts/Reading Memorial) added a goal and two draw controls, while junior Elizabeth Vetter (Great River, New York/East Islip) chipped in with a goal.
Senior Rebecca Matheson added a goal. |
Adelphi scored the first five goals of the game, including three in the opening four minutes, on its way to the win. O'Brien started the run with an unassisted goal just 1:47 into the game. Keesling and Aitkens added goals just 40-seconds apart to extend the lead to three goals after four minutes.
Jahelka scored off an O'Brien feed 14:50 into the game and then Pierce added her second goal of the season on a free position shot 27-seconds later for a five goal Adelphi lead.
Stonehill clawed its way back into the game, using a three goal spurt to pull within two goals. Vetter got the Skyhawks on the board when she scored off of a feed by Ryan. Just over a minute later, Matheson curled around the goal and received a pass from Ryan, as she proceeded to sprint through the defense and fire a shot past Hayes. The goal brought the score to 5-2 as the half ended.
The Skyhawks scored first to open the second half, as Ryan netted her second goal of the season at the 28:43 marker. That's as close as the Skyhawks would come as the Panthers tallied off nine straight goals to close the game.
Beier pushed Adelphi's lead to 6-3 with a feed from Keesling with 27:51 left in the game and the lead grew to 8-3 as Jahelka scored back-to-back goals, the latter coming on a free position shot. O'Brien and Aitkens combined for four of the final five goals for the Panthers as the final four tallies all came with under ten minutes to play in the game.
Stonehill (2-2, 1-1 NE-10) returns to action on Thursday when it hosts Saint Anselm College, receiving votes in the IWLCA Division II poll, at 7 p.m. Adelphi (5-0, 3-0 NE-10) travels to Bentley University on Saturday at 11 a.m.
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