Men's Lacrosse | 5/4/2024 7:19:00 PM
PITTSFORD, NY – The top-seeded St. John Fisher University men's lacrosse team (12-7) rolled to a 20-8 win over No. 2 seed Nazareth University (12-7) in the 2024 Empire 8 Men's Lacrosse Championshipfrom Growney Stadium Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals began with five unanswered goals and cruised to the victory, winning their fifth straight Empire 8 title.
Sean Donaldson came out firing, scoring back-to-back goals in 1:30. Matt Slowinski and Jordan Leuze scored their first of the day before Donaldson completed his hat-trick in under five minutes. The Golden Flyers scored a pair of goals, but Fisher added three more goals to claim a 8-2 lead after one quarter of play. In the second, Donaldson added another score before Ethan Kesselring tallied a pair of his own. Connor Mesh slotted in his first with a minute to go in the first half, and heading into the break, the team led 12-3.
The Cardinals maintained their intensity in the third quarter, with Keaton Piconi and Timmy Salit combined for four goals, while Braeden McNeill, Colin Blakeslee and Brady Mason all chipping in scores to push the advantage to 19-4 through three. In the fourth quarter Kemmis scored the lone goal with 7:52 to play, and Fisher secured the 20-8 Championship final victory.
Ben Hammond earned Tournament MVP, earning the win after playing just over 51 minutes and making six saves in the finals. Six different Cardinals had multi-goal games led by Donaldson's four.
Quinn McKercher scored five goals to lead Nazareth.
The Cardinals out-shot Nazareth, 51-25 and won 18-of-30 faceoffs. In addition, St. John Fisher was a perfect 18-of-18 in clears.
St. John Fisher has now won 37 straight games against Empire 8 foes, regular season and postseason, dating back to the 2019 season.
Fisher will have their eyes on the Selection Show on Sunday at 9 p.m. as they wait to hear their names and see where they will play.
2024 Empire 8 Men’s Lacrosse Championship Schedule
Wednesday, May 1 - Semifinals
No. 1 St. John Fisher University defeated No. 4 Hartwick College, 30-7 – BOX SCORE
No. 2 Nazareth University defeated No. 3 Alfred University, 16-8 –
BOX SCORE
Saturday, May 4 - Championship
No. 1 St. John Fisher defeated No. 2 Nazareth, 20-8 – BOX SCORE
2024 Empire 8 Men's Lacrosse Championship Tournament Most Valuable Player
Ben Hammond, Sr., GK, St. John Fisher
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
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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