MADISON, N.J. – After grinding out a 7-5 victory over Misericordia University on Saturday afternoon at Robert T. Shields Field, the Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham women's lacrosse team clinched the top seed in the MAC Freedom Tournament.
This is the fourth time in the past five seasons that the Devils will be participating in the conference tournament.
Earning the top seed was not easy but the Devils relied on their lone senior, Brianna Capobianco, to help push them past their conference foes. On a day to honor the seniors, it was Capobianco who recorded a hat trick with three goals on the afternoon.
Junior attack Laura Cannillo also contributed heavily on the offensive end with a pair of goals. On the defensive side of the field, sophomore Brienna Reasoner and junior Kelsey Ryan combined to cause seven turnovers and wreaked havoc on the Cougars' offense for majority of the game.
In goal, freshman Megan Nemeth sent away nine shots and made some crucial saves down the stretch to help the Devils pull out the win.
FDU-Florham won the opening draw control and maintained possession of the ball for the first few minutes of the game. As the Devils moved the ball efficiently, it found its way over to junior Joelle Manganella and she broke towards the net and scored.
The Devils added a second goal just a few minutes later once Frances Maggio found a cutting Capiobianco for the score. The senior attack was back near the net again and she was awarded a free position shot. She set up, charged at the net and buried it to put FDU-Florham up 3-0.
Misericordia cut the deficit to three but the Devils scored on a Laura Cannillo shot just before the midway point of the half.
In the final two minutes of the opening stanza, the Cougars scored a pair of goals and the Devils lead was trimmed to one.
A quarter of the way through the second half, the Devils extended the lead back to two off of a Capobianco score, her third of the game. However, the Cougars knotted the game up at 5-5 after netting two consecutive free position shots.
With five minutes to go in the game, the Devils were threatening to score and Cannillo was awarded a free position shot once the Cougars' goalkeeper came out to challenge a play and committed a foul. Cannillo had the open net and she took a step in once the whistle was blown and bounced the ball in for the score to put FDU-Florham up by one.
The Devils were working to take some time off of the clock in the remaining few minutes of the game, but Maggio saw an opening and she attacked the net and scored.
Nemeth made two timely saves for the Devils on a pair of free position attempts by the Cougars and the Devils went on to grab the 7-5 conference victory and claim the top seed in the MAC Freedom Tournament.
The Devils will open up the conference tournament against King's College at Robert T. Shields Field on Wednesday, May 4 at 4 p.m.
