No. 3 Women's Lacrosse Downs Previously Unbeaten Adelphi, 9-4; Advances To NCAA Final For Second Straight Year
Box Score
HOUSTON (May 15, 2008) – The C.W. Post women's lacrosse team advanced to the NCAA Championship title game for the second straight year with a 9-4 win over Adelphi University in the semifinals Thursday afternoon at Memorial Park.
The Pioneers improve to 17-1 overall and will play West Chester University on Saturday, May 17 at 1 p.m. The win stops a 16-game win streak for the Panthers as they end their season with a 16-1 overall record.
C.W. Post and Adelphi last met in postseason play in 2006 in the NCAA semifinals in Chicago, where the Panthers edged out a 9-8 win.
Junior attacker
Jaclyn Napoli (West Islip, N.Y.) led the Pioneers offensively with four goals while senior goalkeeper
Lauren Scipione (East Meadow, N.Y.) made a season-high 15 saves in goal to preserve the win.
The Panthers scored first when Michelle Ceraso scored on a shot from the right side at 23:54.
The Pioneers answered back with two goals, the first from Napoli at 14:14 on a shot from the left post on a cross pass from junior attacker
Katie Hogan (Farmingdale, N.Y.). The second came from senior attacker
Jenna Miller (Silver Spring, Md.) at 11:23 on a 3-yard shot from junior midfielder
Samantha Lyons (Farmingdale, N.Y.) to go ahead, 2-1.
Adelphi tied the game when Kaitlyn Carter shot one in from the right side to tie the game at 10:57.
Napoli scored her second goal of the game on a sling shot from the left post on a pass from Miller at 9:21. The Panthers again answered back when Emily Simpson scored from the right perimeter with an assist from Rachel Ray at 6:32.
The teams played to a 3-3 draw until the Pioneers added two more goals from Napoli and sophomore midfielder
Brianne Jackolski (Shirley, N.Y.) to give themselves a cushioned lead with 5:12 left in the half.
In the second half, C.W. Post scored three continuous goals from Hogan, Napoli and senior midfielder
Elaine Williams (East Islip, N.Y.) to boost its lead in the game to 8-3 with 20:19 remaining in regulation.
Adelphi score its final goal of the game when Carter scored from the left side with 7:26 left to play.
Sophomore midfielder
Staci Passafiume (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) scored the game's final goal at 3:35 with an 8-foot shot from Hogan.
C.W. Post outshot Adelphi, 30-25, and held a 17-15 ground ball advantage.
Passafiume and Hogan each tallied two assists while five Pioneers each scored single goals.
Carter had two goals while Ceraso and Simpson each had one for Adelphi. Caitlin Fitzpatrick made 10 stops in goal, including seven in the second half for the Panthers.
The Pioneers advanced to the title game in 2007 after a win over Stonehill College and went on to defeat West Chester, 15-7, to claim their second national in program history.