Farmingdale State - 9 , FDU-Florham - 5
Farmingdale, N.Y. - Tied 4-4 entering the fourth, Farmingdale State outscored FDU-Florham 5-1 in the quarter as they earned a 9-5 non-conference victory this afternoon. The FSC men's lacrosse team improved to 7-1, while the Devils dropped to 4-3 on the season.
Trailing 1-0 early in the first, FSC evened the score at 1-1 as freshman attack Ryan Wieczorek (West Islip, N.Y.) netted the pass from senior attack Tyler Rifice (Bohemia, N.Y.). The Rams went ahead 2-1 with 7:14 left in the quarter on an unassisted goal from Rifice.
With 12:26 remaining in the second, Wieczorek's second goal of the afternoon increased the Farmingdale State advantage to 3-1. FDU-Florham responded with a score to cut the deficit to one with less than seven minutes to play on a goal by freshman attack Alec Orazietti (Bernardsville, N.J.) as John Belanger (Kinnelton, N.J.) tallied the assist.
With 2:25 remaining, Orazietti netted the final goal of the first half to even the score at 3-3 heading into the break.
In the first half, Orazietti scored three goals for the Devils, while Wieczorek had a pair for the Rams.
Midway through the third, the Devils regained the lead, 4-3, when senior midfielder Matt Milnik (Clifton, N.J.) scored while on the ground in front of the net. FSC answered with an unassisted goal by Wieczorek with 3:35 remaining in the third to tie game, 4-4.
In the fourth, Rifice set up Wieczorek for back-to-back goals as FSC took a two-score lead with 6:47 remaining. Only 1:21 later, Farmingdale State increased the advantage to 7-4 on a goal from freshman midfielder Zach Rudolph (Mount Sinai, N.Y.). For the third time in the fourth quarter, Wieczorek scored off Rifice's pass with 4:56 left to put the Rams on top, 8-4.
Each team added a late goal as the FSC earned the 9-5 non-conference win.
Wieczorek scored a career-high seven goals for the second straight game and had five ground balls, while Rifice had one goal and a game-high four assists. They combined for 12 of the 15 Farmingdale State points. Senior midfielder Patrick Cowcer (East Northport, N.Y.) picked up five ground balls and sophomore defender Dan Panzarino (Oceanside, N.Y.) caused a team-leading four turnovers for the Rams.
FDU-Florham was led by Orazietti's team-high three goals.
FSC senior goalkeeper Brendan Schade (Holbrook, N.Y.) stopped 12 shots, while sophomore Tom Tornetto (Saddle Brook, N.J.) had 13 saves for FDU-Florham.
The Rams next will travel to Purchase for a Skyline Conference game on Saturday, March 25th at noon.
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