Reading, Pa. (February 10)- A back-and-forth contest saw the FDU-Florham men's lacrosse team (0-1) have an 8-7 lead in the third quarter, but a surge of late goals from Albright (1-0) helped them emerge victorious as the Devils fell in their 2024 season-opener, 15-10 on Saturday afternoon.

FDU was led by Jarrett Dugenio (Bridgewater, N.J.) who totaled five points on four goals and five assists in his Devil's debut while veteran Brenden Fabin (Randolph, N.J.) matched Dugenio's total of four goals on the afternoon. Nick Matthew (Kinnelon, N.J.) collected a team-high six ground balls and went 13-for-23 on his faceoff attempts while Aidan Bonn (Huntington, N.Y.) picked up four ground balls and caused three turnovers. Ben Weintraub (Clark, N.J.) started got his first collegiate start in goal and picked up 10 saves in the process.

Albright was led by the duo of Joost Van Der Horst and James Elko, who combined for 10 of the Lions 15 goals. Sean McNicholas got the win in net for Albright today and made 12 saves in the decision.

The Lions got on the board quick in the first 28 seconds of the game when Van Der Host scored the season-opening goal. The Devils were able to flip the score in their favor when Fabin scored the first goal of the season for FDU-Florham at the 7:17 mark and then take the lead just 17 seconds later when Luke Dugan (Washington, N.J.) scored in his collegiate debut to take a 2-1 lead. Albright answered with two more goals of their own and took a 3-2 edge into the second quarter.

After an Elko goal put Albright up by two goals to start the second quarter, Fairleigh Dickinson scored four straight goals with two coming from Dugenio and two from Fabin to retake the lead, 6-4 with 6:32 left in the period. Albright only found one goal before the first half closed out and the Devils took a 6-5 lead into the second half.

Van Der Host recaptured the lead for Albright with two goals early in the third quarter, but Fabin's fourth goal of the day tied the contest up again at seven apiece at the 7:39 timestamp in the third quarter. It was after another Dugan goal that gave the Devils an 8-7 lead when the Lions started their late surge when they scored three straight to close out the third quarter with a 10-8 advantage.

Both teams exchanged pairs of goals to start off the fourth quarter with the Devils finding two more goals from Dugenio and put the score at 12-10 Lions at the 6:02 mark in the fourth quarter. FDU was not able to generate any more scoring in the game while Albright pulled away with three more goals to close out the game for a 15-10 victory.

As a team, FDU-Florham compiled 42 shots, 22 shots on goal, 25 ground balls and caused 10 turnovers. The Devils also finished the game 11-for-17 on clear attempts and 2-for-8 on extra man opportunities.
 
Albright as a team, generated 45 shots, 25 shots on goal, 31 ground balls and caused 12 turnovers. The team was also 13-for-18 on clear attempts and 3-for-4 on extra man opportunities.
 
FDU-Florham will look to bounce back and find that first win next weekend as they travel to take on Rosemont on Saturday, February 17. The game is scheduled for 1:00 pm.
 
For the latest on FDU-Florham Athletics, follow the Devils via social media (@FDUDevils) on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Youtube