PATCHOGUE, N.Y. -- Despite the frigid cold temperatures, the FDU-Florham women's lacrosee team's 2015 campaign got off to a hot start as they picked up a come-from-behind 11-9 victory over St. Joseph's College (Long Island) at Danzi Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Devils (1-0) overcame a 4-0 deficit to top the Lady Golden Eagles (0-1) in the season opener. Sophomore standouts
Joelle Manganella (Kenvil, N.J.) and
Brienna Reasoner (Flemington, N.J.) each netted hat tricks and combined for four assists in the victory.
St. Joseph's started with a flurry, scoring four-unanswered goals in the first 15 minutes of action but the Devils remained undeterred. Manganella notched the Devils' first score of the season with an unassisted strike with 9:03 to play in the opening half.
Just over 30 seconds later, Manganella found Reasoner for the Devils' second goal. Reasoner would add two more goals in the stanza and the Devils entered intermission trailing 5-4.
Heather Ferchland kicked off the second stanza with a goal for the home team, but FDU-Florham soon gained control. Junior attack Brianna Capobinaco (Willston Park, N.Y.) began the surge by burying a feed from Manganella at the 22:46 mark.
Capobianco's score set off a stretch of five-straight goals by the Devils – two apiece by Capobianco and
Courtney Rendinaro (Hillsborough, N.J.) and one more by Manganella.
The Lady Golden Eagles finally stopped the run when
Ela Igdeler scored with 9:24 to play in regulation, however,
Noelle Shirey (Pine Beach, N.J.) and Manganella sealed the win by responding with back-to-back scores.
Senior goalkeeper
Grace Warburton (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.) made six stops to earn the victory in net and was helped by the fantastic defense of
Kelsey Ryan (Succasunna, N.J.). Ryan created havoc on the defensive end with five caused turnovers and corralled six ground balls.
In addition to her three goals and three helpers, Manganella grabbed a game-high eight ground balls in the victory.,
Up next for the Devils is a meeting with cross-street rival Drew University this Wednesday, February 25 at 4 p.m.
