EWING, N.J. – The FDU-Florham women's lacrosse team played 7
th-ranked The College of New Jersey tough but were unable to knock off the nationally-ranked Lions, falling 11-8 on Friday afternoon.
The Devils (1-1) trailed by three at the half and were unable to close the gap, as the two teams played to an even draw in the second stanza.
Senior
Courtney Rendinaro (Hillsborough, N.J.) netted three goals on four shots to lead the Devils, while snagging one ground ball, one draw control and causing one turnover.
Ava Fitzgerald paced the Lions (1-0) with four goals as TCNJ picked up the victory in its first outing of the season.
Speedy sophomore
Brienna Reasoner (Flemington, N.J.) got FDU-Florham on the board first by burying a feed from fellow second-year standout
Joelle Manganella (Kenvil, N.J.) just under three minutes into play.
The Lions countered by registering the game's next three strikes to stake a 3-1 lead midway through the half.
Rendinaro went to work for the Devils by scoring two free-position goals, just 63 seconds apart, to bring FDU-Florham even at three goals aside.
TCNJ closed out the half with three more unanswered goals. Fitzgerald netted the first before senior
Cortney Natalicchio tallied the next two.
After Fitzgerald opened the second half with her third score of the day, Rendinaro, Manganella and
Brianna Capobianco (Williston Park, N.Y.) scored three of the next four to bring the Devils within two goals at 8-6.
However, the Devils were unable to get any closer as the Lions held them scoreless over the game's final 10 minutes and saled the win with one final goal by
Amanda Muller with 2:29 to go.
Following a three-goal effort in the team's first game, reigning Freedom Conference Player of the Week Manganella scored two goals and assisted on another today. Senior goalkeeper
Grace Warburton (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.) made five stops for FDU-Florham in the loss, while her counterpart
Kelly Schlupp stopped four shots to earn the win.
In their next contest, the Devils will host Stevens Institute of Technology in their home opener, this Wednesday March 4 at 4 p.m.