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Click Here to view championship match highlights (FDU-Adelphi)
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Elmwood Park, NJ - - Fairleigh Dickinson checked another one off the list on Sunday at the 2011 Northeast Conference Bowling Championship.
The top-seeded Knights turned away No. 5 seed Adelphi, 4-1, in a best-of-seven baker final to capture their second NEC Tournament title in the past three seasons.
“It feels great,” said NEC Bowler of the Year Danielle McEwan (Stony Point, NY/North Rockland). “In our first team meeting of the season we put all our goals down on paper and this was one of them so it feels good to check it off.”
The Knights entered the 2010-11 season as the defending NCAA champions despite coming up short to Sacred Heart in last year’s NEC title tilt.
“Our primary preseason goal was two-tiered,” said LoPresti. “First, we wanted to win the regular season, which is something we never did before, and second, we wanted to reclaim the tournament championship.”
Successfully navigating their way to the top of a conference that features six of America’s top-15 teams according to the NTCA Top 20 Poll, FDU reached Tier 1 of the preseason goal by posting a 22-5 regular season NEC record. As a result, the Knights earned the No. 1 seed in the 2011 NEC Tournament.
If they were to reach Tier 2, they would become the first ever top-seeded team to win the championship tournament, which began in 2009. FDU won the inaugural title as the No. 3 seed before Sacred Heart came out of the No. 6 spot to capture the 2010 crown.
Fairleigh Dickinson rolled through its first three matches of the tournament on Saturday. The Knights won 12 of 14 baker games, topping No. 8 Monmouth, No. 4 Kutztown, and No. 2 Sacred Heart in best-of-seven matches.
Already through to the Championship Round as a result of Saturday’s three match victories, FDU sat and watched as Sacred Heart and Adelphi opened play on Sunday morning in a semifinal elimination contest.
As it turned out, a rematch of last year’s epic NEC final, during which Sacred Heart topped FDU in a tie-breaking modified baker roll-off, wasn’t in the cards.
Adelphi posted a 4-1 victory over the defending tournament champion Pioneers and earned the program’s first-ever NEC Championship final appearance. After the Panthers took the first two games, Sacred Heart posted a 10-pin victory in Game 3. Adelphi answered with a 217 in Game 4, winning by a 59-pin margin to put SHU on the brink of elimination. Looking to close out the match in Game 5, Adelphi struck in four of the first five frames while sparing the second.
In the opening game of the title tilt, only a few pins separated Adelphi and FDU heading into the 10th frame. Adelphi anchor Danielle Merino (College Point, NY/St. Francis Prep) rolled a 9-spare followed by a solid-9 on her final ball. McEwan produced an 8-spare and a subsequent strike to seal a 172-168 win.
FDU pulled out a 224-212 Game 2 win and began backing the Panthers into a corner.
Displaying a bit of resiliency, Adelphi bounced back by putting up a 246 to take Game 3 by 42 pins.
“I don’t know about my teammates, but I didn’t even notice they shot 246,” said McEwan. “When we are lined in and communicating, we’re not looking at the other team’s score. We know as long as we bowl our best no one can touch us.”
FDU did just that in Game 4. The Knights came out on fire and only got hotter. After four strikes and a 9-spare the first time through the order, FDU struck out the rest of the way for a 279 game and a commanding 3-1 best-of-7 series lead.
The Knights filled their first five frames of Game 5, while Adelphi left two opens the first time through and could never recover. The celebration was on and FDU was back on top of the Northeast Conference.
“We didn’t make this goal any more important than the others, but it is something we set out to do,” said LoPresti. “We’ve accomplished a lot this year, knocking them [team goals] off one by one.”
The list isn’t complete yet though.
“We have one more to get,” reminded LoPresti.
With a NCAA title to defend, it’s onto the next one for FDU.
2011 NEC Bowling Championship Match (Best-of-Seven Baker)
#1 Fairleigh Dickinson 4, #5 Adelphi 1
(172-168, 224-212, 204-246, 279-203, 231-164)
Round 5 Semifinal Match
#5 Adelphi 4, #2 Sacred Heart 1
(192-164, 180-173, 150-160, 217-158, 199-194)