Adelphi defeated Lock Haven, 16-4, Sunday in the Division II Women’s Lacrosse Championship to complete an undefeated season.

Despite the lopsided score, the outcome was in doubt early on. The championship was played in Salem, Virginia.

Lock Haven struck first at the 5:12 mark, but the Panthers answered 10 seconds later off a draw. Lock Haven reclaimed the lead two minutes later, but Adelphi tied it again, then quickly took the lead off a Rachel Ray-assisted goal from Kaitlyn Carter.

Neither team could score for the next 10 minutes as goaltenders Caitlin Fitzpatrick for Adelphi  and Kira Nuttall for Lock Haven made stop after stop. Ray finally snuck a goal past Nuttall in the middle of the first half, creating the spark the Panthers needed. Adelphi when on a 6-0 run to reach the break with a 9-2 margin.

Both teams traded goals to start the second half, but Carter ignited a dramatic four-goal run that the Lady Eagles could not overcome. Lock Haven pulled to within 10 at 14-4, but Ray and Allison Tumulty added two more to produce the largest margin of victory in Division II championship-game history.

The trophy marks the third national championship for Adelphi’s women’s lacrosse team.

“I thought it was about what we were not doing in the first 20 minutes. I felt like we got off to a slow start,” said Adelphi coach and alum Joe Spallina. “But the TV timeouts helped us to slow down, get focused and get rolling. To bring a national championship back to my alma mater is special.”

Lock Haven coach Kristen Selvage said she was pleased with her team’s showing, defeating No. 2-ranked Limestone to reach top-seeded Adelphi in the title match, but she admitted her team also could have done a better job in the opening minutes of the contest.

“This was an important step for us,” she said. “We won a lot of great games to get here.”

She gave special credit to goalkeeper Nuttall, who made 20 saves in the game, saying the junior kept the team in the game.

Adelphi’s Ray, who scored twice and had four assists on Sunday, set an NCAA tournament record with eight assists in the semifinal win against C.W. Post.

“She’ll see somebody where they’re going to be in two steps and the defense has no clue,” Spallina told Lacrosse Magazine. “She just sees the game and has special talents that you can’t coach.”

The title is Ray’s second. She also won as a freshman, starting on a team that lost only once the entire season. She was also on a 2008 team that advanced to the semifinals.

“I’ve been telling the freshmen how cool it was to be here when I was a freshman, and how I want them to experience everything that I got to,” Ray said. “The whole journey, this whole year, it mean a lot because we did lose last year. The freshmen came in acting as if they’d lost last year, and that helped a lot.”

Semifinals

Lock Haven    8          5 – 13

Limestone       4          8 – 12

Lock Haven scoring: Amber Hoch 5, Kayleigh Johnson 3, Leigh Titus 2, Allison Berger 2, Elyse Fisher.

Limestone scoring: Lauryn Wise 4, Katie Ilott 3, Kelly Oterson 2, Kelly Lickert, Renee Albro, Melissa Howard.

Saves: Kira Nutall (Lock Haven) 11; Brigid Milchling (Limestone) 6.

Adelphi                6          9 – 15

C. W. Post           6         4 – 10

Adelphi scoring: Erica Devito 5, Kaitlyn Carter 5, Michelle Ceraso 2, Rachel Ray, Holly Burke, Vanessa Sotcheff.

C.W. Post scoring: Brianne Jackolski 3, Jaclyn Napoli 2, Michelle Fucich, Katie Hogan, Ashley Olen, Chelsea Donaldson, Kian Lyons.

Saves: Caitlyn Fitzpatrick (Adelphi) 7; Sam Powers (C. W. Post) 14.

Championship game

Adelphi                       9          7 – 16

Lock Haven                2          2 – 4

Adelphi scoring: Erica Devito 4, Kaitlyn Carter 4, Rachel Ray 2, Michelle Ceraso 2, Marissa Mills, Holly Burke, Allison Tumulty, Nicole Bass.

Lock Haven scoring: Kayleigh Johnson, Amber Hoch, Allison Berger, Kate Smyth.

Saves: Caitlin Fitapatrick (Adelphi) 9, Christi Kozakiewicz (Adelphi) 1; Kira Nuttall (Lock Haven) 20.