Felicia Mills' overtime goal lifts Adelphi women's lacrosse team to second straight NCAA title
Adelphi's Felicia Mills shoots in the first half against LIU Post during an NCAA Division II women's lacrosse tournament semifinal match at Donald J. Kerr Stadium in Salem, Va., Saturday, May 17, 2014. Credit: AP / Michael Shroyer
SALEM, Va. -- Felicia Mills' estimate of how much time remained on the clock was not on target. Her aim was perfect, though, giving the Adelphi women's lacrosse team its second straight national title.
Mills scored with 11 seconds left in the first of two overtime periods and Adelphi held previously unbeaten Lock Haven scoreless the rest of the way for a 5-4 victory in the Division II national championship game on the campus of Roanoke College Sunday.
"I thought there was less time on the clock than there was. I thought I had looked up a little earlier and thought it said 10 seconds," Mills said. "Apparently, that was wrong, since there was 11 up there when I scored."
In a rematch of last year's title game -- a 7-5 win for Adelphi in what had been the lowest-scoring final to date -- the Panthers (21-1) and Bald Eagles (20-1) again relied on defense.
"It was a game all people wished they had seen," Adelphi coach Pat McCabe said. "Both defenses were playing real well."
There might have been a few fans in the stadium thinking that this contest would have more offense after Lock Haven's Rachel Ward scored 43 seconds in. But the offenses slowed down after that, and Adelphi trailed 2-1 at halftime.
"They have a great defense, we have an amazing defense," Adelphi senior and leading scorer Alexa Froccaro said. "We didn't really play too smart on offense at the start. That's where we really struggled . . . But after the first half, we realized that it was such a close game, we could still come back from that."
Adelphi grabbed some momentum as it scored three straight goals in the first 11 minutes of the second half -- two by Froccaro -- for a 4-2 lead. But Lock Haven answered with two goals to force overtime.
Mills, one of the best faceoff specialists in the country, did her job by gaining possession to start the first overtime. Adelphi chose to hold the ball and go for one shot in the final minute of the overtime, and McCabe said the plan was to try to find Froccaro an open shot. But as had been the case much of the day, Lock Haven had Froccaro locked down.
Enter Mills, who took a pass and saw an open lane to the goal. She moved in just in front of the goalie's crease and connected for her first goal of the weekend.
It was the only shot she took in the game.
One that she'll never forget.
