Fisher Nearly Knocks Off No. 4 Team In The Nation
St. John Fisher College gave fourth-ranked Rochester Institute of Technology all it could handle on Wednesday afternoon, but in the end, the Tigers escaped with a 9-7 win over the visiting Cardinals in an NCAA Division III men’s lacrosse matchup between two of the region’s top programs.
Fisher (6-2) took control early on. Junior Jeff Wester scored 73 seconds into the game and Greg Ramsden pushed Fisher’s lead to 2-0 less than one minute later.
The Cardinals led 3-1 after the first quarter and Brett Farrell gave Fisher a 5-4 lead at intermission, scoring his second goal of the game with 20 seconds left in the second quarter.
The Tigers (5-1) took their first lead of the game, scoring three straight goals to start the third quarter, but Fisher’s Nick Rossi scored a man-up goal late in the third to make it 7-6 R.I.T. after three.
Wester tied the game at 7s with 13:05 left in the contest on an unassisted goal, but Fisher was never able to regain the lead. The Cardinals had a two-man advantage for 30 seconds following Wester’s goal, but Farrell was stopped from point-blank range.
The Tigers took the lead for good with just over five minutes left and added an insurance goal in the closing seconds to seal the win.
Wester and Farrell each finished with two goals, while Rossi and Bryan Dyer each added one goal and one assist. Ryan Freije won 10-of-17 faceoffs and scooped up six ground balls.
Goalie Jamie Campagna stopped 13 shots in the loss.
Fisher returns to action in 10 days and will host Hartwick College in the Empire 8 Conference season opener for both teams.