Madison, NJ (September 1) – The FDU-Florham field hockey team fell short in their season-opener in the Drew Fall Festival against Cabrini, 3-2 on Friday afternoon.

Records: FDU-Florham (0-1); Cabrini (1-0)

Location: Madison, NJ (Ranger Stadium)

FDU Goal Scorers: Dominique Rodriguez (1), Rachel McHale (1)

The Devils drew first blood in the contest when senior Megan Surgent (Wall, NJ) blasted a ball from the top right corner of the striking circle that allowed junior Dominique Rodriguez (Pittsgrove, NJ) to deflect the ball into the back of the cage to score the first goal of the season for FDU and give them a 1-0 advantage.

Cabrini flipped the script in the second quarter when Caroline Gallagher found Adrianna Jones on a one-timer to tie the game up 1-1 at the 22:17 mark then took the lead when Gallagher dribbled the ball from midfield and fired in a shot in the final minute of the half.

The Cavaliers extended the lead to 3-1 on another Gallagher goal when she put in a back-handed goal on played from the middle-left side of the striking circle.

Late in the fourth quarter, at the 54:18 timestamp, Senior Rachel McHale (Montville, NJ) poked a ball into the goal off a pass from junior Allie Serio (Scotch Plains, NJ) to cut into the lead, 3-2. Despite three penalty corner attempts, the Devils could not find the equalizer and were held off by Cabrini on opening day.

Junior goalie Emily Schlessinger (Asbury, NJ) got the nod in goal and recorded nine saves in her opening day performance.

FDU returns to Drew for the Fall Festival to matchup with the cross-street rival Rangers tomorrow, September 2 at 2:00pm

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