MADISON, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham women's lacrosse team fought off a second-half surge from St. Joseph's College (Long Island) to defeat the Golden Eagles 15-8 on Wednesday afternoon at Robert T. Shields Field.
The Devils (1-3) controlled the contest for most of the afternoon and held a 10-goal, second half lead before finalizing the win.
Senior attack Brianna Capobianco led all scorers with four goals, while junior midfielder Brienna Reasoner netted three on the afternoon. Reasoner was especially active in the win, grabbing five ground balls and causing four turnovers to go along with her strong offensive performance.
The Golden Eagles (1-1) were paced by Jenna Kelleher and Tricia Barrett, who each scored twice in the loss.
Reasoner buried the Devils' first two goals of the day but the Golden Eagles responded with strikes of their own and the game was tied at two with 11:29 to go in the opening half.
From that point on, the Devils took control and rattled off four unanswered goals to close the half. Capobianco netted one unassisted strike and sent home another off of a feed by Kathleen Petrucelli. Reasoner and Capobianco accounted for five of the home team's six first half scores as Joelle Manganella's finish with 1:45 to play capped a 6-2 FDU-Florham first half lead.
The momentum continued for FDU-Florham out of the break as Manganella netted an unassisted goal, followed by a Frances Maggio goal and two scores by Brittni Calleo, which help build a 13-3 cushion.
The Golden Eagles rallied to cut the 10-goal deficit down to five with 4:23 to go before Capobianco and Petrucelli thwarted the comeback with the game's final two scores. Petrucelli's goal was the first of her collegiate career.
FDU-Florham held the edge in most categories, including a 25-15 edge in shots on goal and 16-8 advantage in draw controls.
Freshman netminder Megan Nemeth earned her first win and made four stops in 48:03 of action. Calleo filled up the stat sheet for the Devils with a game-high five draw controls and nabbed three ground balls to go along with her two-goal effort.
The Devils return to action this Saturday, March 12 when they travel to Annville, Pa. to take on Lebanon Valley College at 1 p.m.
