STILL DANCING! Fisher Defeats Gettysburg in First-Ever NCAA Tournament Appearance

5/8/2019 7:26:56 PM

In the biggest win in program history to date, St. John Fisher defeated No. 11 Gettysburg in double overtime, 11-10, in the program's first-ever trip to the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship at Mussleman Stadium at Gettysburg College. The Cardinals will be back in action on Saturday when they travel to Williamstown, Mass. To take on Williams in the Sweet 16.
 
CLOSER LOOK
Jordan Depetres was the hero for the Cardinals as the freshman tallied the game-winning goal with 1:17 remaining in the second overtime period. The 17th victory of the season breaks the program's all-time mark for wins in a season, while also being the first NCAA Tournament victory for a St. John Fisher College men's lacrosse team.

Darin Eakins was outstanding between the pipes for Fisher as the junior finished the Second Round matchup with a career-high 21 saves in all 66 minutes of action. Jack Mulvihill had a career-game as the sophomore tallied four goals, while Ian Evans added one goal and three assists.

As the opening quarter of action got underway, both sides jockeyed for the early momentum as both were held scoreless for the first five minutes of game time. After four early saves by Eakins, Gettysburg was the first team to find the back of the net as the Bullets scored the game's opening goal just before the 10-minute mark.

From there, the Eakins and the Cardinals' defense held strong as both sides were held scoreless for the remainder of the opening quarter. As the second quarter opened up, it was the Bullets scoring the quarter's first goal just 53 seconds after the opening whistle.

As the second quarter continued, Fisher made its way onto the scoreboard as Mulvhill scored back-to-back goals less than two minutes apart to tie the matchup back up at two goals apiece. Evans and Zach Wagner both picked up the assists on the Mulvihill tallies. Gettysburg would once again take a two-goal lead as the Bullets answered with back-to-back goals of their own to regain a two-goal advantage.

It didn't take long for the Cardinals to answer, however, as Chance Gates finished a feed from Tucker O'Donnell in front of the Bullets' cage to cut the lead to just one goal. For the remaining six minutes before the halftime break, both defensive units shutout the opposing offenses as the Cardinals trailed by only goal at the midway point.

Coming out of the halftime break, Gettysburg quickly pushed its lead to 5-3 after only 15 seconds ticked off the clock in the third quarter. It didn't take long for the Cardinals to battle back, however, as Nicholas Miller and Danny Turk both took feeds from Evans to tie the game up at five goals apiece midway through the third frame.

The momentum would continue to swap sides until back-to-back goals from Evans and Mulvihill gave Fisher its first lead of the matchup with 19-seconds remaining until the start of the final period.

Both sides were held scoreless for the first four minutes of the fourth quarter until Miller made it three consecutive Cardinal goals with his 77th of the season. Trailing 9-7 with just over 10 minutes remaining in regulation, Gettysburg would rally from a deficit to a one-goal advantage as the Bullets would score the game's next three goals over the ensuing nine minutes of action.

With the final seconds approaching, the Cardinals took their time on their final possession and Mulvihill answered the call as the Dewitt native notched his fourth of the game to knot the contest up at 10-10 with only 39 seconds remaining.

The regulation action did not finish there, though. Eakins would have to come up in the clutch once more for the Cardinals as the junior goalkeeper, who was named the Empire 8 Championship's Most Valuable Player on Saturday, made a miraculous save from point-blank range to keep the game tied as the fourth quarter expired.

After neither team could find the back of the net in the first overtime session, Depetres took mater into his own hands as he blew past his defender and made his way to the front of the cage where he was able to find the top left corner to seal the victory for the Cardinals.

As a team Fisher completed 22 of its 24 clear attempts, while Joe post won 17 faceoffs and grabbed a game-high 14 ground balls.

- Information for this release provided by the athletic communications staff at St. John Fisher - 

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