Nazareth defeats Fisher, 13-4, to advance to E8 Championship
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ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Top-seeded Nazareth outscored visiting fourth-seeded St. John Fisher Colelge 13-4 in an Empire 8 men's lacrosse semifinal contest on Wednesday afternoon.
With the victory, Nazareth advances to play second-seeded Ithaca, who defeated Stevens 11-9 in its semifinal contest. Saturday's Empire 8 Championship is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Golden Flyer Stadium.
In the opening four minutes, senior
Will Fallo set up Nazareth's scoring opportunity with a shot that Fisher goalie Tanner Swan saved. Luke Wooters collected the loose ball and buried a shot past Swan for the 1-0 lead. Fisher's Matthew Condon answered with a pair of goals in only 2:05 to take the lead. On both scoring plays, the Cardinals' leading goal scorer beat a defender on a drive to the net and put a shot past sophomore goalie
Michael Cuciti.
The Golden Flyers answered with three goals in 2:30 to reclaim the lead. Junior
Dan O'Brien started the scoring run with an unassisted goal, which was followed by a goal from Haefele and an unassisted goal by sophomore
Nick Arnold. Troy Haefele's scoring chance was started by a caused turnover by senior defender
Jerry Chasteen. Chasteen cleared the ball in transition, and once in the Fisher box, he passed across to Haefele who rocketed a shot into the Fisher net. Arnold's goal, his eighth of the season, gave Nazareth a 4-2 lead with 4:36 to play in the period.
The Cardinals closed to within one goal on a shot by Nick Rossi with 2:50 to play in the quarter, but Fisher would not score again until nearly five minutes had elapsed in the fourth quarter.
During the Cardinals' scoring drought, Haefele scored his second in the final minute of the first quarter, and O'Brien scored the lone goal in the second quarter for his second tally of the contest.
In addition to his contribution to Nazareth's stingy defense, senior
Vincent Parrillo helped the Golden Flyers offense with an unassisted goal after collecting a loose ball in his own box, clearing the ball on the transition opportunity, and running past a Fisher defender. Parrillo's goal was the first score of the second half. After senior
Drew Simoneau won the ensuing faceoff, Wooters found Haefele 14 seconds later for Haefele's third goal. Roughly two minutes later, Wooters scored his second goal after collecting a loose ball from a save. This time the rebound came from a shot by Arnold. Wooters' goal stretched Nazareth's lead to 9-3.
In the fourth quarter, Rossi tallied his second of the contest, but the Golden Flyers scored four times in the final 5:30 to secure the victory. Junior
Matt O'Neill scored the first of the flurry on the man-up chance. On the faceoff, Simoneau collected the ground ball, drew a penalty, then ran through the Cardinals' defense for the unassisted score. On the ensuing man-up opportunity, Haefele scored his fourth of the game. Freshman
Paul Walter added a goal in the final minute after receiving a pass from classmate
Ben Bickford.
The Golden Flyers finished with a 39-26 advantage in total shots. Cuciti earned the victory with seven saves. Swan finished with 13 saves, including 12 through the first three quarters. Nazareth forced Fisher into nine failed clears. Haefele finished with a team-high four caused turnovers to keep the ball at Nazareth's offensive end of the field.
Simoneau won 15-19 faceoffs and scooped a game-high nine ground balls. Entering Wednesday's contest, Simoneau ranked fourth nationally in faceoff winning percentage at .702. He ranked third in average ground balls per game at 10.41.