Salem, VA – One of the hardest things to do in athletics is beat a team three times, but the top seeded Adelphi University women's lacrosse team dispatched LeMoyne for the third time in 2015, 10-5 behind a combined seven points from Alexa Froccaro and Jacqueline Jahelka on May 16 at Donald J. Kerr Stadium in Salem, Virginia.

"It begins and ends with two teams playing each other for the third time. Two familiar opponents who have a tremendous amount of respect for each other," Head Coach Pat McCabe stated when asked about today's game. "We knew it was going to be a tough one and I give a tremendous amount of respect to Kathy Taylor and her staff. I'm proud of our girls and our senior class. Their willingness and desire to be committed to the next girl up and trust each other to make plays was evident today."

Froccaro led all players with four points on three goals and an assist, while Jahelka found the back of the net three times. Rachel Aitkens continued her tradition of playing big in the Final Four with two goals and one helper, while Emily Keesling and Rachel O'Brien each chipped in one tally.

Defensively, Froccaro and O'Brien accounted for Adelphi's two caused turnovers, while Felicia Mills controlled the draw with four and Ryley Weber and Camille Rosellini each picked up three draw controls. Froccaro, Kaitlyn Stackpole and Kelly Osmulski managed to grab three ground balls each and Taylor Hayes stood tall in the cage, making a total of four stops in the contest.

The story of the first half was draw controls, as the Panthers won six of the eight draws in the first half, giving Adelphi an advantage in offensive possession. The Brown and Gold took advantage early, with Froccaro scoring 6:24 into the action off of an Aitkens assist. The Dolphins answered back with a free position tally from Amari Pollard to knot the game at one three minutes later.

However, Froccaro hit a streaking Aitkens through the middle of the crease, kicking off a run of three straight goals for the Panthers. Jahelka scored, unassisted and Keesling closed out the run with a free position goal with 11:09 reamaining.

LeMoyne got their second score of the contest less than a minute later off the stick of Julia Suriani, but Froccaro scored after spinning around a Dolphin defender to put Adelphi up 5-2 with just under 10 minutes to play. After some back and forth Adelphi ended up with the ball in the final seconds of the first frame, with Jahelka going to call and causing a free position, which she converting with just 1.1 seconds left in the half, sending the Brown and Gold into the locker room with a four goal advantage, 6-2.

The four goal lead was possible, thanks in part to the Panther defense, which pushed the Dolphins into five turnovers. The Adelphi defensive unit also managed to block two LeMoyne free position attempts, while Hayes made two stops in the cage to keep the Dolphins to just two first half tallies.

The draw continued to be the narrative in the second half, with Adelphi winning two of the first three draws, which resulted in three straight Panther scores in the first 15 minutes of the second stanza. The first tally of the second period came off the same stick that ending the scoring in the first, Jahelka, while, O'Brien and Aitkens contributed the other two goals, making it 9-2 with 14:12 on the board.

The Adelphi defense continued its strong play, holding LeMoyne without a shot for the first 17:52 of the second half. However, the Dolphins broke through with 12:18 on the clock and proceeded to rip off three straight goals before Froccaro put a ripple in the back of the LeMoyne net on a free position to stop the bleeding and push the Panther edge to five goals with 5:14 remaining.

Adelphi won the ensuing draw control, courtesy of Rosellini, allowing the Panthers to kill a significant portion of the remaining five minutes, before a turnover allowed the Dolphins to get one more free position, which was turned away by Hayes, sealing a 10-5 Adelphi victory.

The Panthers will return to Donald J. Kerr Stadium on Sunday, May 17 at 2:00 pm to play for the NCAA Division II National Championship against the winner of the South Region Semifinal, which features Lock Haven and Lindenwood.