ST. DAVIDS, Pa. -- The FDU-Florham field hockey team exploded for three goals in the first 21 minutes of action to earn a 3-2 victory over Eastern University on Wednesday afternoon and claim their fourth win in a row.

The Devils (10-6, 4-1 Freedom) are now tied with Misericordia University and DeSales University for the top spot in the Freedom Conference standings. 

In the win, FDU-Florham fired a season-high 22 shots, 14 of which were on cage. On the other end of the field, the Devils limited the Eagles (7-9, 2-3 Freedom) to just four on-target attempts.

The Eagles earned the first three penalty corners of the contest but came away empty handed. In the 13th minute, the Devils began their assault on the Eagles' cage. Four shot attempts and two penalty corners by the Devils across a 90-second span put the pressure on Eastern.

At the 14:47 mark, senior Niki Ikeda (Lawrence, N.J.) fired a shot off of Eastern goalkeeper Jennifer O'Neill and Kim Davis (Long Branch, N.J.) followed with a rebound-shot to net the game's first goal. Davis' goal was her team-leading 10th of the season.

In the 17th minute, from the top of the circle, Ikeda set up the Devils' second strike by feeding freshman Alexa Paparo (Voorhees, N.J.), who promptly slid the ball past O'Neill and into the back of the cage to give FDU-Florham a 2-0 edge.

At the 20:30 mark, junior Alicia Grotyohann (Lafayette, N.J.) increased the Devils' lead to 3-0 off of a cross-pass by Stephanie Geskes (Exton, Pa.).

Following the third goal, the Eagles took a timeout to regroup and four minutes later, Megan Bolton got the home team on the board by finishing a penalty corner pass from Gina Miller.

Davis responded with two shots on goal late in the half but the contest went to intermission at 3-1. The sophomore was on the ball all night and fired a season-high seven shots in the game.

Early in the second stanza, Bolton took a slapshot that ricocheted off of FDU-Florham goalkeeper Amy Defnet (Poolesville, Md.) and into the cage. For the second time, Bolton's goal came courtesy of a feed from Miller and the Eagles cut the deficit to 3-2.

The Devils earned nine penalty corners over the remainder of the contest but were unable to score again. Fortunately, FDU-Florham's defense was up to task and prevented the Eagles from finding the equalizer en route to the victory.

With her two assists, Ikeda now leads the team with seven on the campaign. Paparo and Grotyohann scored their fourth and second goals respectively in the win.

Next up for the Devils:
FDU-Florham hosts DeSales University in a crucial Freedom Conference matchup this Saturday, October 25th with start time set for 1 p.m. at Robert T. Shields Field.