Cardinals, Bombers and Pioneers All Win on April 3
Fisher 16, Elmira 8
The St. John Fisher College men’s lacrosse team defeated Elmira College 16-8 in Empire 8 play on Wednesday afternoon in Growney Stadium. With the win, the Cardinals move to 8-2 on the year and 2-0 in the Empire 8 while the Soaring Eagles fall to 1-6, 0-1.
Fisher and Elmira traded scores over the first three periods before the Cardinals finally broke away in the fourth with eight-straight goals.
After heading to the locker rooms tied at 5-5, the Cardinals started the second half with two goals to take a 7-5 advantage. Both goals to start the half were unassisted.
The Soaring Eagles ended the run with a goal at 5:54 remaining in the third quarter.
With 1:55 left in the third, Fisher would bump its lead back to a two-goal margin. The score, 8-6, would hold through end of the third quarter.
Ithaca 12, Alfred 2
The 14th-ranked Ithaca College men's lacrosse team (7-2, 1-0 Empire 8) upended visiting Alfred (6-2, 0-2 Empire 8) 12-2 Wednesday afternoon at Higgins Stadium in its Empire 8 opener.
Despite letting up the first goal, Ithaca rattled off nine straight to dominate the first three periods. Alfred added a second at 13:49 of the fourth, but Ithaca netted three more to finalize all scoring, 12-2.
Ithaca improved to 39-8 all-time against the Saxons in winning its 14th straight.
The Bombers outshot Alfred 46-28 and held a 39-25 gap in ground balls. Ithaca led the faceoff count, 13-5.
Utica 10, Hartwick 6
The Utica College men's lacrosse team outscored host Hartwick College 5-1 in the second half on its way to a 10-6 Empire 8 Conference victory on Wednesday afternoon. The Pioneers have now won two in a row and improved to 5-3 overall all on the year while moving their record at 1-1 in the highly competitive Empire 8. UC has won three of the last five meetings against the Hawks dating back to 2009.
The first half was a back and forth battle which saw the Pioneers take a 3-2 lead at the end of the first quarter, but the hosts answered right back by outscoring UC 3-2 in the second quarter to knot the score at 5-5 at the halftime intermission.
The second half proved to be all UC as the Pioneers scored the first three goals of the third quarter to take an 8-5 lead. Hartwick was able to score early in the fourth quarter, but it was not enough as Utica netted two goals down the stretch to secure the conference win.
It was a physical contest that included 24 penalties (12 for each team), seven man-up goals (Hartwick: 4, Utica: 3) and one man-down score by the Hawks. UC outshot the home squad 37-31 on the day and the Pioneers also earned a 25-23 advantage in the ground ball category. Each team won ten face-offs and the Pioneers won the turnover battle, 19-12.