Adelphi women's lacrosse has 14-game winning streak snapped in NCAA Tournament quarterfinals

They trudged off the turf one last time.

They walked slowly. Some by themselves. Others in groups of twos and threes. A few had faraway looks on their faces. A handful wept. Several smiled gamely.

As they turned away from the field onto the walkway leading to their locker room, a group of fans — parents, alumni, classmates, friends, well-wishers — greeted them with claps and cheers and hugs and words of encouragement.

This was not the way the Adelphi women’s lacrosse team envisioned its campaign ending; rather, there was a belief that the current iteration could match the accomplishments of nine of their predecessors by winning an NCAA Division II championship.

Instead, on a cloudless spring afternoon in Garden City Saturday, the Panthers’ 2026 season came to a premature end with a 16-12 loss to Pace in an NCAA Tournament quarterfinal game Saturday.

“It ended,” Adelphi coach Pat McCabe said, “in a bad way.”

Entering the game, Adelphi (14-5) had won 14 straight contests, including topping Pace (16-5) twice. The first was an 18-8 rout in a regular season match on March 25. The second, just two weeks ago, was a thrilling 14-13 triumph in the Northeast 10 Conference championship game.

On this day, though, the Setters jumped out to a 7-3 lead at the end of the first quarter, and outscored the Panthers 4-1 in the fourth quarter. Marissa Doty led second-seeded Pace with five goals and nine points and Annie Sheehan added four goals and seven points.

“They didn’t throw anything new at us,” said senior attack Alexandra Leggio, who had a goal and two assists. “[It] just didn’t fall the way we wanted to.”

Payson Hedges scored four goals for top-seeded Adelphi, and Julia Foppiano added a goal and three assists. Like Leggio, Ashley Kolomechuk and Rita Sefransky finished with three points.

Despite the individual efforts, the East region’s top-seed will not prepare for a trip to Rochester next weekend for the Final Four. The Panthers will now begin laying the foundation for the 2027 and future seasons.

For Adelphi, the foundation is rooted in its history.

There are nine banners that hang just to the left of the midfield stripe at Motamed Field. One next to the other separated by just small slivers of space. They are gold with black lettering on the top and bottom. Between the typeface are images of NCAA Championship trophies with the years they were claimed.

From left to right, the dates on the banners read: 2004, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2017, and 2019.

They are the unforgettable years. They are the unforgettable teams.

As much as those banners honor Adelphi’s women’s lacrosse championship squads, it is also the unspoken but fully understood expectation for the program. They represent the standard: Championships.

But to hear McCabe, championships aren’t just won by having the best talent. Championships are won by the quality of players and people on a team. And he stressed his program’s success can be traced to people like Leggio and Sefransky, who joined him for the postgame news conference.

“We’re a championship program,” McCabe said, while pointing one thumb toward Leggio to his left and the other to Sefransky, sitting on his right. “There are teams that win championships but because of people like this, we are a championship program.”

The two seniors echoed their coach as they talked about the connection their group had and has.

“We had so much fun,” Leggio, the Seaford product, said. “You kind of build bonds and you get each other through the hardest moments. And that’s why we play: For moments like today and the NE10 championship. That’s why we came here and I just think that we had so much fun and we have a lot to be proud of across [the board].”

So they were and are a tight-knit group. One that, according to Sefransky, is not going to separate now that the season is over.

“This is the goofiest group of people I’ve ever played with,” Sefransky said. “That’s why we were so successful this year. We really liked hanging out with each other and talking to each other. We were together 24/7. You’d think we’d be sick of each other by now. No. We’re going to hang out [Sunday], Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday [and] until we actually can’t hang out anymore.

“Because we love each other and we have so much fun together.”