Men's Lacrosse | 4/29/2023 5:28:00 PM
PITTSFORD, NY - After building a 9-4 haltime lead, the St. John Fisher University men's lacrosse team finished strong and won by a 17-9 final score. With the win, the Cardinals will enter the Empire 8 tournament as the No. 1 seed and are the 2023 Empire 8 Regular Season Champions. Fisher now holds an 8-9 overall record and are 7-0 in conference play, while Nazareth is 9-8 overall and are now 5-2 in conference play.
Prior to the start of the game, the Cardinals celebrated their seniors and their contributions to the program.
As the first quarter began, the Cardinals got off to a fast start. Jack Cornell picked up the loose ball off the face-off and got it into the offensive end. Jacob Gallina took it to cage hard and scored the first goal of the game just 50 seconds in. After a Ben Hammond save, the offense had another early opportunity. Matthew Kemmis promptly found Samuel Miller who stung the upper left corner to give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead.
That would set the Cardinals up, as they would never trail. Fisher would lead 5-2 after one quarter, 9-4 at the half and 12-7 after three quarters before pulling away for the victory. The Cardinals out-shot Nazareth, 56-29 and won the ground ball battle, 50-22.
Mason led the way on the offensive end with five goals, two assists and three ground balls. Miller added three goals, Gallina scored two goals, dished out one assist and recorded two ground balls to help add to the offensive success. In cage, Hammond had 12 saves Cornell on the defensive end, finished with four caused turnovers and four caused turnovers. Brian Jantz with three ground balls and two caused turnovers.
The Cardinals face-off unit went 24-for-29, with Scott Reeves, Logan Grom and Christian LoCasto all contributing.
Quinn McKercher led the Golden Flyers with seven points on two goals and five assists. Goalkeeper Eric Ahlmqust made 20 saves for Nazareth.
Up next for the Cardinals, the team will host the Empire 8 Championship Semifinal game at home vs. No. 4 seed Hartwick College on Wednesday May 3.
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The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit www.empire8.com.
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