Carter, Devito, Mills, Fey drive Adelphi women to national title
Adelphi's Demmianne Cook (27), Kaitlyn Carter (9) and Mariel Wenzel (23) jump into teammate Caitlyn Fitzpatrick's arms after defeating Westchester College to win the Division II National Championship for the second year in a row. (May 23, 2010) Credit: Joe Rogate
With less than 17 hours to rest up and prepare for the national title game, the Adelphi women's lacrosse team was a little sluggish in the first 12 minutes Sunday against West Chester. But Marissa Mills triggered an eight-goal run by the Panthers as they won the NCAA Division II title with a 17-7 victory in Gettysburg, Pa.
The game was tied at 2-2 with 17:47 left in the first half, but Mills scored 17 seconds later on a free-position shot. Adelphi (19-1) rolled with the final five goals of the half and the first three of the second half to take a 10-2 lead with 23:32 left in the game.
Junior midfielder Kaitlyn Carter and sophomore attack Erica Devito each scored five goals. Mills, a sophomore midfielder, and junior midfielder Elizabeth Fey each had three goals. Fey, who had a goal and four assists in Saturday night's 14-9 semifinal victory over C.W. Post, was named most outstanding player of the tournament.
It is the fourth national championship for the program and marks the first time that any Division II women's team has won the title in back-to-back years.
After the victory over Post, the Panthers had a short turnaround.
"The team is very well conditioned and we kept them focused because you cannot play too emotionally when the games are back-to-back," coach Joe Spallina said. "It was a testament to the hard work these girls put into the season."
Senior goalie Caitlin Fitzpatrick made 14 saves and sophomore midfielder Claire Peterson had four assists. Devito and Fey finished the season with 60 goals each.
West Chester (19-2) had a 28-27 edge in shots and both teams had 20 ground balls.
"Every season is based on winning a national championship," Spallina said. "We are at the top of the top right now and it doesn't get any better than this."
