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Minnich had two goals in the loss

Men's Lacrosse

Conference Battle Results in Defeat for Devils

Box Score MADISON, N.J. – The FDU-Florham Devils men's lacrosse team dropped a tightly-contested Freedom Conference match 7-5 to DeSales University on Wednesday night at Robert T. Shields Field.

With the loss, the Devils drop to 6-6 on the season and 1-2 in Freedom Conference play, while the Bulldogs improve to 4-7 overall and 3-0 in conference action.

Defense set the tone early for the two teams in what was a hard-hitting contest. With 13:46 to play in the opening period, the Bulldogs grabbed a 1-0 lead. DeSales continued their success and blanked the Devils 4-0 after one quarter of action.

The Devils responded in the second quarter and totaled the only two goals of the period on strikes by sophomore Daniel Minnich (Laurys Station, Pa./Parkland) and freshman Dan Decker (East Setuaket, N.Y./Ward Melville). The Bulldogs held a 4-2 advantage at intermission and outshot the Devils 16-11 over the first 30 minutes of play.

The teams played an even draw in the third quarter by each tallying a goal. Minnich tallied FDU-Florham's score, which was his 15th of the season. Trailing 5-3, Devils freshman midfielder Matt Melnik (Clifton, N.J./Clifton) brought FDU-Florham within one by firing home an assist from sophomore Brian Moody (Columbus, N.J./Northern Burlington).

However, Bulldogs' junior Lance Bracale notched back-to-back goals, which rebuilt DeSales' lead to three at 7-4. FDU-Florham's leading scorer Frank Reda (Hauppauge, N.Y./Smithtown West) scored with 4:36 to play in the game but it would be the last goal of the night as the Devils fell 7-5.

Minnich paced the Devils with two goals, two ground balls and one caused turnover, while Decker added a goal, seven ground balls and two caused turnovers in the loss.

Bracale led the Bulldogs and all scorers with three goals in the win. FDU-Florham outshot the DeSales 18-10 in the second half but the Bulldogs claimed a 9-6 advantage in face-offs.

Next up for the Devils:
FDU-Florham has eight days off before heading to Wilkes-Barre, Pa. next Thursday, April 17th to take on King's College at 4 p.m.
 
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