FDU-Florham Hands Women’s Lax First Loss of the Season

Written by Andrew Capitelli (SJC-LI Sports Information)

Madison, NJ| Sophomore Jenna Kelleher and junior Tricia Barrett each tallied twice as the St. Joseph's College (L.I.) women's lacrosse team suffered its first loss of the 2016 season on Wednesday afternoon, dropping a 15-8 decision to FDU-Florham on the road. With the loss, the Golden Eagles fall to 1-1 on the season while the Devils pick up their first victory and move to 1-3 on the year.

After falling behind less than three minutes into the game, Barrett knotted the game up at one from the free position 7:12 into the contest. With 15:46 to play, FDU's Brienna Reasoner inched the hosts back in front with an unassisted goal, but freshman Nicole Stoppelli brought the Golden Eagles back level (2-2) with her first-career collegiate goal four minutes later.

Four goals from the Devils in the first half's final eight minutes ensured a 6-2 advantage for FDU at the half, and another quartet of goals in the second half's first 16 minutes doubled the lead (10-2) at 14:09.

Sophomore Kirstin Carroll's third goal of the season at 12:41 ended the slide for SJC, but FDU responded with three more tallies from Makenzie Staffordsmith, Frances Maggio, and Brianna Capobianco to increase the Golden Eagles' deficit to 10 (13-3) with 9:46 to play.

Over the next five minutes SJC would rally with five consecutive goals from Jessica Cordano, Heather Ferchland, Kelleher (2) and Barrett to bring the game back to within five (13-8), but Kathleen Petrucelli and Capobianco's marks inside the final four minutes clinched a 15-8 victory for the Devils.

Freshman Lindsay Ramos made 10 saves on 20 shots and was handed the first defeat of her collegiate career. Sophomore Darrien Diaz played just over 14 minutes in relief but was untested. FDU's Megan Nemeth picked up the win and made four saves in 48 minutes of action.

Ferchland recorded team-highs in both groundballs (3 ) and draw controls (4), and shared the team lead in shots (5) with Barrett.

The Golden Eagles return to action on Thursday, March 17 when they travel to Galloway, NJ to face Stockton in a non-conference match-up at 2:00 PM. Live stats will be available here.