Adelphi women's lacrosse routs Southern Conneticut State, advances in Northeast-10 tournament

The regular-season finale came and went with Adelphi winning by eight at Southern Connecticut State. A week later, the Panthers were at a whole other level in the rematch on this soggy Saturday at their Garden City campus.

This women’s lacrosse team came out in its Northeast-10 tournament quarterfinal and was so sharp that it triggered a running clock with a 10-goal lead by the time almost 5 1/2 minutes had ticked off in the second quarter.

Second-seeded Adelphi went on to claim a 22-9 win over the No. 7 Owls at Motamed Field after winning 19-11 in the previous meeting.

“We were better today than we were the last time, clearly,” Panthers coach Pat McCabe said. “I think there was more of a sense of urgency on the part of our kids because it is the postseason.”

The attack was in fine form.

North Massapequa’s Julia Foppiano delivered a career-high nine points, built on four goals and five assists.

Her fellow sophomore, best friend and roommate from Commack was really good, too. Ashley Kolomechuk posted three goals and five assists. Manhasset’s Marielle Colalillo had six points on five goals and an assist. And Seaford’s Alexandra Leggio had two goals and four assists.

So the Panthers, who are ranked 10th in Division II, improved to 14-3. They will host sixth-seeded Assumption in the semis at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

They have plenty of motivation after finishing as the runner-up in this tournament and for the D-II national championship last season.

“Obviously, finishing second in both wasn’t ideal,” Foppiano said. “But it drives us to be more aggressive and more passionate about what we do and just play more as a team and just have each other’s backs through it all and hopefully get back to both championship games and this time have the outcome that we want.”

They moved to 20-0 in outcomes against Southern Connecticut, which concluded its season at 10-8.

“They’re just really good,” Owls coach Kevin Siedlecki said. “They’re fast. They’re quick to the ball.”

Macy Vail, who had two goals and two assists, provided Southern Connecticut with a 1-0 lead just 25 seconds in. And then it turned.

Kolomechuk fed Foppiano in front of the crease and the Plainedge grad tied it, beating goalie Caelan Connors, the former Sachem North standout.

Ward Melville grad Amanda Lee scored the go-ahead goal for Adelphi. Then Foppiano fed Kolomechuk, who made it 3-1.

After 7 minutes and 42 seconds had expired, it was 6-1 and Foppiano and Kolomechuk had both set each other up for two goals.

“We’re so close off the field, so I feel like that adds so much more to our connection,” Kolomechuk said. “We just find each other. We just see each other.”

Foppiano scored all four of her goals and had three of her assists to help the Panthers go up 10-2 after one quarter.

The lead swelled to 15-3 at halftime and stood at 20-5 after three.

“The speed and the placement of their shots were really hard for me to get to a lot of times,” Connors said.

And 19 of the 22 goals came off of assists.

“They genuinely get excited when something good happens for someone else,” McCabe said. “I think that’s one of the things that carries us is that selfless, team-first mentality.”