MONTCLAIR, N.J. (April 1, 2017) - The FDU women's lacrosse team tallied six goals in the second half but fell to in-state rival Montclair State University Saturday.

FDU falls to 5-3, while the Red Hawks improve to 7-2 overall.

Montclair's Francesca Verrone opened the scoring with a pair of free position goals 36 seconds, and two minutes later added an additional goal to go up 3-0 five minutes into the game. The Devils got on the board with a goal from senior Brienna Reasoner at the 22:13, and the senior added a free position tally just three minutes later cutting the lead in half.

Junior Cassidy Vastano kept the scoring spurt going, adding her third of the year off a feed from senior Joelle Manganella with just 14 minutes remaining in the half. Montclair would score the final five goals of the period, the final marker coming with 18 seconds left on the clock to head into the break up 9-3.

After the Red Hawks opened the second stanza with a goal, the teams traded the next two, as senior Noelle Shirey scored for FDU. Down seven with 25 minutes left, the senior duo of Manganella and Reasoner combined for the next goals, cutting the deficit to four. After Manganella's second, the Red Hawks scored twice in 23 seconds to reconstruct the six goal lead.

Sophomore Caitlyn Damon and Vastano scored to bring the gap to four with under six minutes, but that was all the scoring the Devils would get. Sophomore Erin Gill entered in goal with nine minutes left and kept MSU off the board with a pair of saves.

Sophomore Megan Nemeth made nine saves in just over 50 minutes and led the way with eight ground balls, while Reasoner forced three turnovers.

It's a short turnaround for FDU, who host Ramapo tomorrow at 1 p.m.