The title defense marches on for the Setters. Pace Women’s Lacrosse defeated Adelphi University 16-14 last Saturday to win the Northeast-10 Championship. It marked three straight wins over the Panthers. The win also meant capturing the NE-10 tournament title that slipped from their hands last year.
The Setters finished unblemished, with a perfect 20-0 record. With the NE-10 title won and subsequent auto-bid clinched, it meant the East Regional is returning to Northwell Stadium for the second straight year. Pace also claimed the #1 overall seed for the entirety of the tournament and will be designated the home team in any neutral-site games.
The East Regional was filled by NE-10 teams in its entirety. Adelphi claimed the #2 seed, meaning they will return to Pleasantville for one more game. Their first tournament match will be vs The University of New Haven Chargers, seeded 3rd. Bentley University’s Falcons will also travel down to Pleasantville as the #4 seed. Pace defeated Bentley 15-3 in the NE-10 Semifinals last Wednesday, May 8.
Getting the last win was no easy feat. Adelphi was within striking distance of the Setters all afternoon. Neither team led by more than 2 goals for the first half. The lead changed hands three times in period one, ending with Pace up 4-3. The Panthers scored 3 straight to take a 7-5 lead with just over 10 minutes left in period 2. Nikki Mottes tied the game at 8 with 6:57 left. Two passes from Angelina Porcello to Katie Long resulted in two goals for Pace and a 10-9 lead. Mackenzie Carita added one more for an 11-9 lead. It would return to a tie going into halftime as Adelphi scored twice in 22 seconds.
The third quarter was all Setters. In less then three minutes, Pace got the lead back via Annie Sheehan’s goal. Porcello added a second and so did Sheehan to make it 14-11. Adelphi would be held scoreless in the third. Sydney Juvelier’s goal with under a minute made it a 4 goal advantage for the Setters. Adelphi charged back with three goals of their own in the 4th. Two straight to open the quarter made it 15-13. The game was finally out of their reach when Margaret Flocco scored her second to make it 16 for Pace and one more trophy to the collection.
The Setters and Falcons’ first draw is at 11:00 am this Thursday. Find tickets at paceuathletics.com/tickets or watch live at NCAA.com/champs-pass