Men's Lacrosse | 5/7/2025 11:16:17 AM
The St. John Fisher University men's and women's lacrosse programs will represent the Empire 8 in the 2025 Division III Lacrosse Championships, which begin on Saturday, May 10. Both teams earned the automatic bid into their respective NCAA Championship Tournaments by winning the Empire 8 Championship on May 3.
ST. JOHN FISHER MEN
The St. John Fisher men's lacrosse team will only have to travel a couple of miles for its NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Tournament game later this week.
The Cardinals (15-4), who beat Nazareth 21-10 on Saturday in the Empire 8 Championship game to punch their ticket to the tournament, will face Ohio Wesleyan (15-3) at the Rochester Institute of Technology's Tiger Stadium at 3 p.m. on Saturday. The host Tigers (18-1) await the winner of a first-round game between Ohio Northern and Aurora.
Both second-round games will be played on Saturday, May 10, with the winners advancing to the third-round game on Sunday, May 11.
Fisher has qualified for each of the last six NCAA tournaments. Last year, the Cardinals took down Wesleyan and St. Lawrence on their way to the NCAA quarterfinals, where they fell to eventual national champion Tufts.
Ohio Wesleyan beat Denison 13-10 on Saturday in the North Coast Athletic Conference title game. This marks the first NCAA Tournament bid for the Battling Bishops since 2018.
ST. JOHN FISHER WOMEN
The No. 14 St. John Fisher women's lacrosse team will have a chance to start a run in the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Tournament on its home turf.
The 18-0 Cardinals, one of two unbeaten teams left in Division III, will host opening-weekend games at Growney Stadium. They will face the winner of Saturday's first-round game between Grove City (12-6) and John Carroll (15-2) at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
The Cardinals, who beat SUNY Geneseo to win their 13th consecutive Empire Conference 8 title on Saturday, have hosted NCAA Tournament games three other times in program history (2016, 2018 and 2019).
The Cardinals have won the Empire 8 and reached the NCAA Tournament every year under head coach Linda Michele, who took over the Fisher program before the 2012 season (note: there was no E8 championship due to COVID-19 in 2020). The Cardinals need one more victory to match the program single-season record (19 in 2019).
Grove City earned its second straight invitation to the national tournament by defeating Chatham, 11-7, in the Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship Tournament title game.
John Carroll will be making its second appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Blue Streaks lost to Mount Union in the Ohio Athletic Conference title game this past Saturday.
John Carroll beat Grove City 16-9 to open its season back on Feb. 22.
The Cardinals have not previously matched up against either team traveling to Pittsford.
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 and YouTube
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