MADISON, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham men's lacrosse team picked up its first MAC Freedom victory of the 2016 season after defeating the Manhattanville College Valiants 8-3 on Wednesday night at Robert T. Shields Field.

Freshman Michael Warg recorded his second career multi-goal game for the Devils (3-7, 1-1 MAC Freedom) after scoring a pair of goals in the win over the Valiants (3-8, 0-2 MAC Freedom). Junior Matt Melnik and sophomore Will Kenny also added two goals apiece.

Daniel Minnich, who is one of the team's leading scorers, took a backseat approach in this game and used his field vision to find his open teammates. The senior attack recorded a season-high four assists.

Despite a strong offensive showing, the Devils did a lot of their work on the defensive side of the field. Junior defender Nick Grasso caused three turnovers in the contest while Dan Decker tallied two caused turnovers and six ground balls.

Within the first few minutes of action the Devils were able to get on the board once Warg fired a shot into the back of the net.

As the clock continued to wind down in the opening stanza, FDU-Florham tacked on a pair of goals. The first came from Melnik at the five-minute mark when he was found near the net by Dalton Rimmer. Just over a minute later, Rimmer found a cutting Frank Salustri and he scored to put the Devils up 3-0.

Before the first quarter came to a close the Valiants managed to tack on a goal to cut the deficit to two.

For the next two quarters, both teams were held scoreless. The Devils dominated the ball and placed countless shots in the direction of the Manhattanville net. However, the Valiants' goalkeeper, Zach Hoffman, denied 10 shots that were put on goal by FDU-Florham. Hoffman finished the game with 14 saves.

The offense picked back up in the final quarter of play and within the first minute, Warg placed his second goal of game into the net off of an assist by Minnich.

A few minutes later, the Devils lead grew to four once Rimmer scored after receiving the ball from Minnich.

At the eight-minute mark it was Minnich once again, finding Kenny near the net for the score to put FDU-Florham up 6-1.

Manhattanville was quick to counter the Kenny score as Connor Normandin found the back of the net for the Valiants. The Devils came right back though and Kenny tallied his second goal of the game.

With five minutes left to play the Valiants cut the deficit to four once Normandin placed another shot into the back of the net.

In the closing minutes of the contest, the FDU-Florham defense was able to hold the Valiants to one shot. Meanwhile, the Devils added an insurance goal off of a shot from Melnik on a man-up opportunity.

The Devils be on the road for their next match as they head to Wilkes-Barre, Pa. to face off against King's College on Saturday, April 16 at 7 p.m.