Adelphi women's lacrosse goes for 3-peat
Adelphi University senior #9 Kaitlyn Carter makes a pass during NCAA women's lacrosse team practice held on campus. (Feb. 10, 2011) Credit: Photo by James Escher
The dynasty that is Adelphi women's lacrosse only grows stronger. The team is going for three straight national titles and, even sweeter, will have the opportunity to defend the crown on its own field.
Adelphi will host the NCAA Division II National Championships. Try to find anyone who thinks the Panthers will not make it to the final round. Certainly no one connected with the team.
"We're not going to let anyone beat us on our home field, we're so excited about it,'' attack Claire Petersen said.
Petersen, a first team All-American, scored 47 goals and had 81 assists. "A lot of us play better under pressure. The better competition we play, the better we step up our game and the better we play.''
Petersen is far from the only offensive weapon. Adelphi has an arsenal. Elizabeth Fey (60 goals, 24 assists), Erica Devito (60, 23), Demmaine Cook (52, 11), Marissa Mills (49, 13) and Kaitlyn Carter (30, 17) all return. Kristin Jones was the D-II defender of the year.
Adelphi was 19-1 last season. That is one more loss than coach Joe Spallina (fourth season, 53-2) would like. "Our incentive, obviously, is the same as it has been since I've been here,'' he said. "We want to win the national championship, that's it.
"Obviously, the fact that it's on our field and that we're going for that three-peat adds a little more to it, no doubt.''
Spallina keeps the veterans on their toes by adding more talent each season. No one can be sure of keeping their starting job. "With our team everyone is at such a high level, so we're always competing against each other to get on the field, always pushing each other,'' Devito said. "Preparation is the biggest thing. We always want to be fit, we always want to have good stick skills, we are always constantly working on that. Over the last three years we recruited better and better players. That's made me raise my game a lot more because I'm competing against amazing players.''
Spallina likes transfers and the top one this season could be defender Katelynn Ciaci, who played at the University of Florida. She was a two-time high school All-American at Northport. She adds to an already deep squad.
"This is by far the most talented group since I've been here,'' Spallina said. "From the lacrosse side, it's insane.''
