MADISON, N.J. – The two unbeaten teams in the Freedom Conference met under the lights for a physical battle when the FDU-Florham men's lacrosse team squared off against the Eastern University Eagles on Tuesday night at Robert T. Shields Field. Ultimately, the Eagles managed to defeat the Devils 16-6 and snap their six game winning streak.

Less than a minute into action, the Devils (8-5, 4-1 Freedom) got on the board with a score from Nick Ardolino (Florham Park, N.J.) that brought the crowd to its feet. However, the Eagles (13-3, 6-0 Freedom) responded just minutes later with a goal of their own off of the shot from Grant Ferguson. Ferguson scored a game-high four goals on eight shots in the contest.

Eastern added two more goals off of costly turnovers by the Devils in the first quarter to jump out to an early 3-1 lead. After several minutes passed, the Devils countered with a goal from Jake Higgins (Bridgewater, N.J.) to cut the deficit to one, but within the closing seconds of the quarter, Ferguson netted his second goal of the night.

The Eagles defense began to clamp down and they limited the Devils to just two shots on goal in the second quarter. With the strong defensive performance, the Eagles were able to take control of the game and they went on to score six unanswered goals.

After being held to two goals in the first half, the Devils looked to gain some momentum and they went on the attack in the third quarter. Dalton Rimmer (Vernon, N.J.) caused an Eagles turnover and the Devils worked their way down the field. Matt Melnik (Clifton, N.J.) received the ball and he fired a pass over to Frank Salustri (Yonkers, N.Y.), who then rifled the shot into the back of the net for the score.

However, the Salustri goal was the only score the Devils could muster in the quarter. Meanwhile, the Eagles netted four more goals and had complete control of the game, holding on to a nine goal lead.

In the final quarter of play, the Eagles lead continued to grow but the Devils found some late life on the offensive end and scored three unanswered goals off of the shots from Daniel Minnich (Laurys Station, Pa.), Salustri and David Stewart (Narbeth, Pa.). Unfortunately, the late offensive burst came too late as the Eagles secured their 16-6 victor over the Devils.

The Devils will close out their regular season at home as they welcome the Misericordia Cougars to Madison on Saturday, April 25, at 1 p.m. for senior day.