Madison, N.J. (May 6th)- The third-seeded FDU-Florham men's lacrosse team will match up with the second-seeded Goucher College in the semifinals of the 2025 Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship Tournament on Wednesday, May 7. The game will be played at Goucher at 5:00 PM.
This will be the first time that these two programs have ever faced off, so the Devils will look to take the 1-0 advantage over the Gophers.

Scouting the Devils
FDU-Florham completed a rapid turnaround from last season, going from 1-15 all the way to 10-6. In conference, they improved from 0-7 to 3-4, with their MAC playoff hopes lasting until their final game this season. Out of the conference, they excelled, going 7-2. On the road out of conference, The Devils also performed greatly, going 3-1.
The Devils are led by head coach Alex Stone, who entered his first year as the Men's Lacrosse Coach at FDU-Florham.

In the net, the Devils mainly relied on their goalkeeper, Anthony Pieroni (Branchburg, NJ). Pieroni started in all 16 of the matches this season for FDU-Florham, and logged over 840 minutes in the net. He totaled 143 saves, with a season high of 20 coming against nationally ranked Stevens. He earned a 47.8% save percentage, and posted a 10-6 goalie record.

In defense, FDU-Florham was led by the trio of Zachary Van Zile (Kinnelon, NJ), Aidan Bonn (Huntington, NY) and Trevor Reid (Middletown, NJ). Van Zile has recorded 30 caused turnovers and 45 ground balls this season in all 16 games he started, with seven caused turnovers at Juniata on March 12^th being his season high. Bonn has caused 18 turnovers from the opposition, and picked up 38 ground balls in all 16 starts for him. His season high was three caused turnovers at Immaculata on March 1^st. Reid started in 12 of his 13 appearances this season, and accumulated 16 caused turnovers and 18 ground balls, with his most for him this season being three against Arcadia, DeSales, and Stevens on April 5^th, 9^th, and 12^th.

In the midfield, the Devils were led by their leading goal scorer in Brenden Fabin (Randolph, NJ). Fabin led the Devils in scoring, with 47 goals and 14 assists for a total of 61 points. He had 52.1% of his shots on goal and picked up 36 ground balls, while causing 12 turnovers. He also broke a program record for the most goals scored in a game with 10 against Centenary on February 25^th.  He was supported by a multitude of players, but most notably from Jarrett Dugenio (Bridgewater, NJ), Anthony DiGiacomo (Paramus, NJ) and Ronnie Trisuzzi (Rockaway, NJ).  Dugenio scored the third most goals on the team with 26, and also registered 12 assists for 38 points. He fired 125 shots, with 65 of them being on goal for 52% shots on goal percentage. DiGiacomo also made a big impact, scoring 19 goals and 10 assists for 29 points. 44 of his 67 shots were on goal, giving him a 65.7% of shots on goal. Trisuzzi broke out in his senior season, scoring 23 goals and five assists for 28 points. He shot the ball 72 times with it being on target for 47 of them, giving him a 65.3% of shots on target. Ricky Lewis (Washington, NJ), and Joesph Carbo (Farmingdale, NY) also saw meaningful time in the midfield.

While also being a midfielder, Nick Matthew (Kinnelon, NJ) helped most from the middle, as he won the most faceoffs this season for the Devils. He won 142 of his 240 face offs this season, which was a winning percentage of 59.2%. His season high was 14 against Delaware Valley on April 19^th, in which he also reached the milestone of 300 faceoff wins as a member of the FDU-Devils.

In attack, the sophomore, Justin Perillo (Jackson, NJ) has dazzled, scoring the second most goals on the team with 33, while also picking up 21 assists for 54 points. 60 of his 86 shots were on goal, meaning his shots on goal percentage was an astounding 69.8%. His consistency was also unmatched, as he scored five goals in three separate games against Rosemont, Centenary, and Delaware Valley. Bud Snyder (Arlington Heights, Ill.) scored a decent amount of goals with 13, but his primary task for the Devils was dishing the ball to others, and he did it to perfection, racking up a team high 43 assists for 56 points. This included a broken program record, as he recorded 11 assists against Cairn on April 1^st.

 
Scouting the Gophers
Goucher matched its record from last season, going 9-8 overall while going 3-6 in conference. In home games, they regressed slightly from last season, losing one more game and going 4-5, although out of conference at home they were slightly better, with the Gophers going 3-3

Goucher are led by their head coach, Kyle Hannan, who had a first stint as the head coach from 2001-2012, and was rehired in 2022. He has an overall record of 152-98 (.608).

Goucher split time between two goalkeepers this season,  although most of the time has gone through Jack Smith, who has started every single game for the Gophers this season. He has racked up 188 saves for a save percentage of 53%. Josh Steinmiller played the remaining minutes in the net for Goucher, playing in six games while picking up 29 saves for a save percentage of 64.4%.

Defensively, the leaders for the Gophers were Sean Nolan, Nick Gambone, and Nick Pusey. Nolan caused the most turnovers to opposing teams, knocking the ball out 24 times, along with picking the ball up off the ground 35 times. Gambone caused 21 turnovers in the 17 games that he started, while winning ground balls 33 times. Pusey, as a first-year impressed, causing 17 turnovers while earning a team high 65 ground balls.

Although also a defender, David Vucci led from the face-off line, winning 127 of the 350 face-offs he saw for a face-off percentage win of 36.3%.

In the midfield, the Gophers were led by the senior duo of Tyler May and Milan Temple. May scored the second-most goals on the team with 32 goals and 7 assists for 39 points. Of the midfielders, Temple led with points, scoring 25 goals while also dishing the ball to others 21 times, scoring 46 points on the season. Scott Tayman and Jack Murdaugh also provided valuable time in the midfield, scoring 11 and eight goals respectively.

In the attack, Goucher saw most of its production come from Gianni Karam, who scored the most goals for the Gophers and tied for the lead in the Landmark Conference with 63 goals. He also earned 5 assists for a total of 68 points. He was not the leader in points for the team however, as Jacob Morgan led that category with 76, thanks in large part to his 46 assists which also led the team, while scoring 30 goals. Kevin Gearhart also contributed, racking up nine goals and two assists for 11 points this season.

The winner of this contest will advance to the championship round against the number-one seeded Westminster Titans at Westminster on Sunday, May 11^th, at a time yet to be determined.

Semifinal – Wednesday, May 7 at Goucher
#3 FDU-Florham (MAC Freedom) vs. #2 Goucher (Landmark) – 5:00 pm

Championship – Sunday, May 11 at Westminster
Winner of Semifinal vs. #1 Westminster (PAC)

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