Men's Lacrosse | 3/24/2021 9:56:00 PM
PITTSFORD, N.Y. – Seniors Nicholas Miller and Joe Post made history on Wednesday as the nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College men's lacrosse team nearly toppled the nation's top-ranked team before a final second goal allowed the No. 1 Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers to escape with a 16-15 decision in a top-25 showdown at Growney Stadium. With the loss, No. 17 Fisher slipped to 3-3 on the year while the Tigers remained unbeaten at 4-0.
The duo etched their names atop the Cardinals' record book once again as Miller finished the game with four goals to establish a new high mark for career goals with 152 while Post corralled 11 ground balls to set a new program record in career ground balls with 514.
The Cardinals looked to set the tempo early as Roger Panara worked his way over the midfield line and blew one past the Tigers' keeper just 15 seconds into the game to stake Fisher to a 1-0 lead.
RIT tied the game three minutes later at one goal apiece, but Fisher answered on the other end with back-to-back tallies from Tucker O'Donnell and Jack Mulvihill to hold a two-goal edge.
Ahead on the scoreboard, 3-1, Fisher was unable to hold the Tigers at bay with the visitors producing two unanswered goals of their own to knot things up at 3-3. With under five minutes to play in the first quarter, Mulvihill sent a pass in the middle to Ian Evans who broke the tie with his 10th goal of the year and sparked a three-goal rally that gave Fisher a 6-3 lead heading into the second quarter.
Trailing by three, the Tigers got on the board early in the second period with a goal just 16 seconds after the opening whistle, but RIT was unable to contain the Cardinals as Jordan Depetres hit Miller on the wing to push the lead back to three, 7-4.
After seeing its advantage cut to one with 8:08 left in the first half, Fisher seized the momentum and orchestrated a 3-0 run that included back-to-back goals from Evans and an unassisted mark from Jacob Gallina to make it 10-6 with under three minutes to play before the break.
Down by four and with time winding down, RIT capitalized on a Fisher turnover in its own end and quickly moved the ball around the back side of the cage before burying a shot to head into intermission down three goals, 10-7.
Coming out of the break, the Tigers had all of the momentum and scored four of the game's next five goals to level the score at 11-11. With 3:40 to go before the end of the third, Depetres whipped a pass up top to Mulvihill for the senior's second goal of the game to give Fisher a one-goal cushion.
As the quarter wore on, RIT forced Fisher into a turnover with 28 seconds on the clock and tied the game up 24 seconds later as both teams headed to the final quarter deadlocked at 12-12.
After trading two goals apiece over the first 11 minutes of play, the Tigers took their first lead of the game with 3:25 to go. Undaunted, Fisher won the ensuing faceoff and went to work. Down by one, Fisher worked its offense and unloaded three straight shots with Evans backing up to maintain possession. Following a timeout with 17 seconds left, the Cardinals' persistence paid off as Mulvihill delivered a pass to Miller who sent a sidearm shot into the back of the net to level the game again at 15-15.
With just nine seconds remaining in regulation, RIT claimed the faceoff and quickly called a timeout to draw up a final play. With both teams set, the whistle sounded and the Tigers skipped a pass across the field to an open attackman who drilled the game-winner with just three seconds still in play.
Miller and Mulvihill led Fisher with six points apiece while Evans netted four goals overall. Depetres handed out three assists and Gallina, Matthew Kemmis, O'Donnell and Panara each scored once.
Post was 17-for-29 with 11 groundballs while Kyle Rochester and Matthew Delaney each scooped up a pair of ground balls.
Darin Eakins (3-3) was a monster in net as the graduate student stopped 15 shots on the night.
Fisher will host No. 18 Ithaca College at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Growney Stadium.