MADISON, N.J. (April 6, 2019) – Junior Pat Stewart and freshman Zane Johnston each scored twice to propel the FDU-Florham men's lacrosse team to a 6-5 thrilling win over King's College Saturday afternoon.

FDU improves to 6-3 on the season, including a 2-0 mark within the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom. King's drops to 2-8, 0-2 in the conference. The Devils honored seniors Michael Adragna, Will Charbonneau, Kyle Conrad, Michael Contreras, Dominick Ricci and Michael Warg in a pregame ceremony.

The Monarchs broke through first, opening the scoring 4:05 into the game. After a save on sophomore Drew Bukowiec, King's cleared the ball and scored in transition for the 1-0 lead. Both sides had eight shots each in the first period, and the Devils were able to level the game on the seventh shot. Freshman MacGyver Hay led the breakout for the team and linked up with junior John Belanger who potted his team-leading 28th goal of the year with 2:48 left in the frame.

Stewart gave the Devils their first lead with 9:40 left in the second, as classmate John Guido found Stewart who ripped an attempt past the keeper. The Devils were assessed a penalty with 7:43 left, and the Monarchs leveled the game with the man-advantage. With time winding out in the stanza, Stewart fed Johnston with 33 ticks left on the clock, pushing the Devils in front 3-2 heading into halftime.

FDU held a slim 18-16 edge in shots but were a perfect 12-for-12 on clearing attempts over the opening 30 minutes. Junior Adam Reifer made seven first-half stops to keep the Devils ahead going into the second half.

The Monarchs tied the game at three 5:30 into the third quarter, but the Devils took control with three tallies over a 5:26 span. King's took a pushing minor, and the FDU capitalized 25 seconds into man-advantage. Warg fed Bukowiec, who fired a shot past the King's goalie after making a nifty move to get him out of the position.

Much like the fourth goal, the Devils used the man-up to take a two-goal lead. Belanger fed Johnston, who deked the goalie for his second of the night. Stewart used a strong individual effort for the sixth final Devils tally. After winning the faceoff, Stewart hustled down the field and scored with 11 seconds remaining. King's beat the buzzer in the period, tallying a goal just before the buzzer sounded, and the Devils went into the fourth up 6-4.

King's opened the fourth with a marker 3:18 in, setting the stage for a wild finish. FDU had four shots saved by the King's goalie, the final one coming with 3:04 left. The Monarchs held possession for the last 2:35 of the game. The visitors attempted six shots during the stretch, including one that rang off the post. FDU held tight, forcing a shot-clock violation with 20 seconds left to get the ball back. The Devils were able to run out the rest of the clock to seal the victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
•    The Devils are 2-0 in the MAC Freedom for the first time since the 2015 season.
•    Hay and Adragna each caused three turnovers in the win. Hay led the way with five ground balls.
•    Stewart won four faceoffs and fired a team-high 10 shots.
•    Reifer made 10 saves, his fifth consecutive game with 10 or more saves.

UP NEXT
The Devils are back in action on Wednesday when they host Misericordia at 7 p.m.