POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (March 24, 2017) — The Vassar College women's lacrosse team (3-3) battled but ultimately fell 12-8 to Fairleigh Dickinson University- Florham at Weinberg Field on Friday.
"It was a tough game today," coach Judy Finerghty said. "Fairleigh Dickinson is a tough team. They came out ready to go. They're a very aggressive, fast team. They shoot well, so we had our hands full today."
Julia Trudell notched her second straight hat trick, while also adding team-highs in ground balls (6) and draw controls (4). Tessa Waters added a pair of goals, while Phoebe Hankins tallied a score and an assist for another two points.
"Julia Trudell got on the board a few times today," Finerghty said. "She also won a ton of draw controls, and she also did a lot of work that didn't necessarily warrant stats. She really competed hard and battled for a lot of 50-50 balls, and gave us an opportunity through the midfield. Brittany Botticelli, who is also one of our captains, did a nice job helping transition the ball."
Fiona MacLeod and Brittany Botticelli both found the back of the net once, while Storm Sideleau and Gabi Patick both dished out an assist.
Kristin Caolo took the loss for Vassar with three saves over the first half, while Megan Nemeth earned the win for FDU-Florham with 10 stops over the full time. Emily Chancey also saw time in net for the Brewers, fending away four shots in the second half.
The Brewers were outshot by their visitors 25-20 overall and 19-18 in shots-on-goal.
Joelle Manganella (5g, 1a) paced the Devils with six points, while Brienna Reasoner (4g, 1a) finished with five. Noelle Shirey (2g, 1a) added three, Frances Maggio (2a) had two, and Kathleen Petrucelli (1g) and Aliyha Elk (1a) both finished with one to round out the offensive effort.
Trudell opened scoring with a goal after gathering her own rebound in the first minute, but the Devils responded with a 4-1 run. Botticelli broke up the burst with an unassisted score to level the game at 2-all before Reasoner netted back-to-back goals for a 4-2 advantage.
The sides exchanged goals the rest of the half, with Sideleau finding MacLeod and Patick feeding Waters, before FDU-Florham carried a 6-4 edge into the break.
The Devils picked up the aggression from there, opening second-half scoring with a woman-down goal, 7-4. They scored four of the next five to take as much as a six-goal, 11-5, lead. Hankins found Trudell to interrupt the surge.
The Brewers found energy on offense, netting three straight off the sticks of Hankins, Trudell and Waters to pull as close as 11-8, but Shirey scored with four seconds remaining to deadlock the final score.
"We start league play next Friday," Finerghty said. "We're happy to have a tough game today, so that we can get our competitive juices flowing at the highest level when we get into Liberty League play."
Vassar looks to bounce back with the start of conference play. The Brewers welcome the Dutchwomen of Union College to Weinberg Field on Friday, March 31 for a 4 p.m. tilt.
—VASSAR—
