Men's Lacrosse | 5/1/2025 8:18:44 PM
No. 1 seed St. John Fisher University (14-4) and No. 2 seed Nazareth College (13-5) advanced to the 2025 Empire 8 Men's Lacrosse Championship game after earning semifinal wins on Wednesday, May 1. St. John Fisher defeated No. 4 seed Hartwick College, 30-6, while Nazareth earned a 14-12 home win over No. 3 seed SUNY Geneseo.
The Cardinals will host Nazareth in the 2025 E8 Men's Lacrosse Championship game at 12 p.m. on Saturday, May 3 from Growney Stadium. St. John Fisher is looking to win its sixth straight Empire 8 Championship, while Nazareth is attempting to win its 11th Empire 8 title in program history and first since 2017. The winner of Saturday's game will earn an automatic berth into the 2025 NCAA Division III Tournament.
St. John Fisher and Nazareth will meet for the second time this season. The Cardinals rallied from a 4-0 first quarter deficit to defeat the Golden Flyers, 14-11 on April 19. Brady Mason had seven points on four goals and three assists for the Cardinals. Quinn McKercher scored four goals for the Golden Flyers.
It is the fifth straight year that St. John Fisher and Nazareth will meet in the E8 Championship game. Last season, the Cardinals knocked off Nazareth 20-8 in the title game.
NO. 1 ST. JOHN FISHER 30, NO. 4 HARTWICK 6
The top-seeded Cardinals jumped out to an 10-1 lead after one quarter of play and 17-3 at halftime on its way to a 30-6 win over No. 4 seed Hartwick from Growney Stadium
Timmy Salit led a potent St. John Fisher offense with a career-high 10 points on two goals and eight assists. Brady Mason had seven of his nine points in the first half. He finished the day with six goals and three assists. Jordan Leuze and Braeden McNeill each had five-point efforts (3-2-5), while Robbie Salit added four goals and JP Revitte had three goals and an assist.
Bryce Riffel and Scott Reeves combined to go 33-for-34 at the face-off "X" for the Cardinals.
Garrett Frost and Colin August scored two goals apiece to lead Hartwick, who had its season come to an end with a 9-7 mark.
As a team, Fisher outshot the Hawks, 48-20 and won the ground ball battle, 54-13.
The Cardinals have now won 46 straight games against Empire 8 foes, regular season and postseason, dating back to the 2019 season.
NO. 2 NAZARETH 14, NO. 3 SUNY GENESEO 12
Nazareth defeated No. 3 SUNY Geneseo 14-12 in the semifinal round of the Empire 8 tournament.
Matthew Farrington led the Golden Flyers in points with five on two goals and three assists.
Owen Riley and
William O'Neill led Nazareth in scoring with three goals each.
Nazareth improves its record to 13-5 overall with the win while SUNY Geneseo will finish its season with a record of 11-7 overall.
With the game tied 9-9 at halftime, the Golden Flyers were able to hold the Knights scoreless, while putting up three goals themselves. Riley scored less than a minute into the quarter on an assist from Meagher to set the tone in the third. Nazareth's next two goals came from man-up opportunities.
Quinn McKercher scored his first goal of the game from Riley just as the Knights' penalty clock ran out. O'Neill scored his second goal of the game on a pass from Farrington towards the end of the third quarter to send Nazareth into the final period with a 12-9 advantage.
Geneseo put the pressure on Nazareth, scoring the first two goals of the quarter to cut the Golden Flyer lead to one. At the 8:36 mark,
Louis Cogliandro cut through the middle and converted on a well-placed pass from Farrington to give Nazareth a two-goal cushion. With less than five minutes left, Geneseo scored again on a man-up opportunity. At the 3.:18 minute mark, O'Neill scored the Golden Flyers' final goal of the game to end the game at a score of 14-12.
Jakob Denkenberger took all 30 faceoffs for the Golden Flyers and won 19 of them for a faceoff percentage of .633.
Ryan Trebing led Geneseo with four goals, while Aksel Stanat tallied three times. Andrew Tittmann stopped 14 shots in goal.
2025 Empire 8 Men’s Lacrosse Championship Schedule
Tuesday, April 29 – First Round
No. 4 Hartwick College defeated No. 5 SUNY Brockport, 12-11 –
BOX SCORE
No. 3 SUNY Geneseo defeated No. 6 Alfred University, 16-7 – BOX SCORE
Thursday, May 1 - Semifinals
No. 2 Nazareth University defeated No. 3 SUNY Geneseo, 14-12 –
BOX SCORE
No. 1 St. John Fisher University defeated No. 4 Hartwick College, 30-6 – BOX SCORE
Saturday, May 3 - Championship
No. 2 Nazareth University vs. No. 1 St. John Fisher University – 12 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
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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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