Peterson, Fey score 4 as Adelphi advances

Division II women's lacrosse may be a small pond, but until further notice, Adelphi remains the leviathan. Saturday's 18-13 NCAA semifinal victory over Le Moyne set up Adelphi, unbeaten in 19 games and the country's top-ranked team, to possibly win its fifth national title in seven years.

Limestone College of Gaffney, S.C., powered by Seaford junior Racquel Prager's six goals in a 10-9 decision over West Chester (Pa.), will be the opponent in Sunday's championship final on Adelphi's home field at noon.

So, while the national tournament consisted of only six teams, it is no small potatoes that Adelphi again knocked off Le Moyne, ranked No. 2 in its first season after moving down from Division I, and returned to the title game.

"We came in thinking we were the better team," said Adelphi coach Joe Spallina, whose side had twice beaten Le Moyne in Northeast-10 Conference play this season -- Le Moyne's only two losses in 20 previous games. "But being the home team, there was pressure. It would be tough hosting the national championship game and not be in it. It was important for us to be alive and well [Sunday]. Which we are."

Syracuse-based Le Moyne last weekend won its first of two Upstate vs. Long Island regional battles in the tournament, defeating Dowling, 18-9. But after a quick Le Moyne goal in the game's first minute by junior Brittany Brigandi, a Syracuse native who transferred to Le Moyne from UMass, Adelphi's roster of Long Island-raised players cranked up a swift and powerful attack that steadily buried Le Moyne.

Wantagh junior Claire Peterson and Kings Park senior Elizabeth Fey scored four goals apiece for Adelphi, often teaming for alley-oop type scores, with one assisting the other for slapped-from-the-sky shots at point-blank range.

Shoreham junior Erica Devito had three goals and goalie Frankie Caridi, a freshman out of Commack High School, made seven saves.

For Le Moyne, Brigandi finished with five goals, giving her a whopping 87 this season, and senior Michelle Phillips had four. But after Phillips' 40-yard dash to pull Le Moyne within one, at 3-2, only five minutes into the game, the visitors appeared increasingly out of steam and ideas.

Le Moyne repeatedly was thwarted by Adelphi's thicket of defensive sticks, arrayed fortresslike in front of Caridi, and Adelphi built its lead to a thoroughly comfortable 11 goals, at 18-7, with nine minutes to play before Le Moyne scored the game's last six goals.

"This was [Le Moyne's] first year in the conference," Fey said. "We wanted to kind of welcome them and show them who we are."

And who they are, Spallina said, are "run and gun. We want to be the best show on turf. We want to play off a frenetic offensive pace. It was important for us to show the Division I world that we're not a Division II team."

Not one to be trifled with, anyway.