Men's Lacrosse | 5/10/2025 8:08:00 PM
ROCHESTER, NY – The St. John Fisher men's lacrosse team survived a late push from Ohio Wesleyan to pull out a 17-16 victory in the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament across town on Saturday at RIT's Tiger Stadium.
The victory marked Dave Dobbins' 100th as the Cardinals' head coach. He joined John Johnson as the second coach in program history to reach the milestone.
Fisher, now 16-4 on the season, will face host RIT (19-1) in the third round at 3 p.m. on Sunday. The Tigers advanced with a 20-3 victory over Ohio Northern in the first of two second-round games at Tiger Stadium on Saturday.
Senior Brady Mason (3), junior Brett Seaman (2) and sophomores Robbie Salit (2), Sean Donaldson (2) and Ethan Hodge (2) had multi-goal games for the Cardinals.
With four points (three goals, one assist), Mason became the fifth player in program history to reach 200 career points. He ranks fifth on Fisher's all-time points list with 203.
Mason now stands fourth in Fisher history with 136 career goals.
How It Happened
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The Cardinals came back from a pair of two-goal deficits in a back-and-forth first half in which neither side led by more than two. Seaman and Hodge scored back-to-back goals to tie the game at four late in the first quarter, while Mason and Luke James found the back of the net about two minutes apart early in the second quarter.
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After Ohio Wesleyan took a 7-6 lead, Donaldson, Mason (man up) and Robbie Salit scored in quick succession to put the Cardinals ahead 9-7. The Battling Bishops scored with less than 10 seconds left in the half to make it 9-8.
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The teams continued trading goals until Fisher ripped off another three-goal run to take a 15-13 lead. Junior Matt Slowinski and Salit scored late in the third quarter, and senior Ethan Kesselring scored just more than five minutes into the fourth quarter.
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Garrett Smith pulled Ohio Wesleyan within one 21 seconds after Kesselring's goal, but the Cardinals quickly pushed their lead back to three with goals from senior Colin Blakeslee and Hodge, who netted his second of the day.
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Ohio Wesleyan made another push, scoring twice with less than three minutes remaining to cut Fisher's lead to 17-6. The Battling Bishops won the faceoff after the second goal and had a chance to the the game in the final minute.
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The Cardinals' defense held on, forcing Ohio Wesleyan into a turnover as the game clock expired.
Game Notes
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The Cardinals improved to 6-5 all-time in NCAA Tournament games with the victory.
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Hodge set career highs in goals (2) and caused turnovers (3).
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Salit (2 goals, one assist) and freshman JP Revitte (one goal, two assists) each had three points.
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Junior goalkeeper Tyler Manning made 10 saves between the pipes.
Up Next
The Cardinals face No. 3 RIT at 3 p.m. on Sunday.
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