SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The No. 9 University of New Haven women's lacrosse team (14-4) saw its bid for a Northeast-10 Conference Championship come to an end on Saturday, falling to No. 2 Adelphi 14-7 in the semifinals of the NE10 Championship. Leading New Haven on the day was senior's Nicole Belanger (Kinnelon, N.J./Kinnelon) and Caitlin O'Brien (Branford, Conn./Branford) who each finished with a pair of goals.

Overall, five different players scored the Chargers with Kendall Cietek (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland), Hailey Rattigan (Hicksville, N.Y./Holy Trinity) and Jessica Mazliah (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) all netting goals on the day. O'Brien led all New Haven players on the day with three points adding one assist while Cietek also provided one helper.

Freshman Gianna Guerra (Thiells, N.Y./North Rockland) suffered the loss between the pipes for New Haven. In a complete game outing for Guerra, she collected seven saves. Defensively, the Blue and Gold forced Adelphi into 21 turnovers, led by senior Hannah Johnson (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) who caused, making that nine total for Johnson in the two NE10 Championship games.

SCORING

·         29:17 1st – ADE :: Kole Pollock; Free Position

·         27:29 1st – ADE :: Alison Johnson from Michele Scannell

·         24:58 1st – ADE :: Michele Scannell from Alison Johnson

·         16:39 1st – ADE :: Kate Beier from Jacqueline Jahelka

·         15:59 1st – ADE :: Nicki Stanco from Casey Zalewski

·         14:14 1st – ADE :: Beth Ann Pierce unassisted

·         12:56 1st – ADE :: Jacqueline Jakelka unassisted

·         12:44 1st – ADE :: Michele Scannell unassisted

·         10:27 1st – UNH :: Nicole Belanger (Kinnelon, N.J./Kinnelon) (1) unassisted

·         9:09 1st – UNH :: Caitlin O'Brien (Branford, Conn./Branford) (1) unassisted

·         6:37 1st – UNH :: Hailey Rattigan (Hicksville, N.Y./Holy Trinity) (1) from Kendall Cietek (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) (1); Player-Up

·         5:27 1st – ADE :: Jacqueline Jahelka unassisted

·         0:38 1st – UNH :: Nicole Belanger (Kinnelon, N.J./Kinnelon) (2); Free Position

·         26:35 2nd – ADE :: Michele Scannell unassisted

·         23:16 2nd – ADE :: Alison Johnson unassisted

·         20:11 2nd – ADE :: Jacqueline Jahelka unassisted

·         17:13 2nd – UNH :: Jessica Mazliah (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) (1) from Caitlin O'Brien (Branford, Conn./Branford) (1)

·         13:17 2nd – UNH :: Kendall Cietek (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) (1); Free Position

·         5:55 2nd – UNH :: Caitlin O'Brien (Branford, Conn./Branford) (2) unassisted

·         3:20 2nd – ADE :: Casey Zalewski unassisted

·         0:18 2nd – ADE :: Alison Johnson from Jacqueline Jahelka

HIGHLIGHTS

·         Adelphi opened up the contest scoring the first eight goals before the Chargers could muster their first of the afternoon nearly 20 minutes into the action. Nicole Belanger (Kinnelon, N.J./Kinnelon) broke the Panthers momentum and began what amounted to a three-goal rally for the Chargers with her first of two scores on the day.

·         Just over a minute after that initial New Have goal senior Caitlin O'Brien (Branford, Conn./Branford) picked up her first of the afternoon on an unassisted score while the final goal in that series came from rookie Hailey Rattigan (Hicksville, N.Y./Holy Trinity) as she teamed up with graduate student Kendall Cietek (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) on a player-up opportunity with 11 seconds remaining before going back even.

·         Adelphi would pick up one more goal in the opening half, while the Chargers closed things out converting a free position attempt with 38 seconds remaining before the break. Belanger would provide that final goal of the half, pulling New Haven within five, 9-4, at the intermission.

·         Adelphi would score first again in the second half, this time putting the first three goals on the board before New Haven broke through with 17:13 left on the clock. That initial goal in the second half came from Jessica Mazliah (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) thanks to O'Brien passing up the free position attempt. Mazliah would accept the pass at the goal line and curl a shot around the post for her first of the day.

·         It looked like the Chargers were going to put together a rally, scoring a second-straight goals just under four minutes remaining, however both defenses stepped up as neither team would net a goal for nearly eight minutes.

·         That second goal of the half for the Chargers came as Cietek converted a free position attempt while O'Brien provided the third and final goal in the second half for New haven, an unassisted score with 5:55 remaining. Her final score of the day came as she put a bounced in a rebound collected from her own free position attempt.

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The Chargers will await word on whether they are one of six teams who will represent the North Region in the 2017 NCAA Division II Championship field. The selection show is slated for Sunday, May 7 at 8:00 p.m. and will be broadcast live on NCAA.com. Follow NewHavenChargers.com and @UNHChargers on Twitter and Instagram for updates.