Men's Lacrosse | 4/30/2026 6:17:35 PM
No. 1 seed Nazareth College (12-6) and No. 2 seed St. John Fisher University (16-2) and advanced to the 2026 Empire 8 Men's Lacrosse Championship game after earning semifinal wins on Thursday, April 30. Nazareth defeated No. 4 seed Utica University, 22-6, while St. John Fisher earned an 18-9 home win over No. 3 seed SUNY Geneseo.
Nazareth will host St. John Fisher in the 2026 E8 Men's Lacrosse Championship game at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 2 from NLPA Field. St. John Fisher is looking to win its seventh 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 2026 NCAA Division III Tournament.
St. John Fisher and Nazareth will meet for the second time this season. The Golden Flyers jumped out to a 5-0 lead after one quarter of play to defeat the Cardinals, 12-7 and snap St. John Fisher’s 39-game Empire 8 regular season win streak and 52-game conference win streak including postseason play dating back to 2019. Kyle Rosenberger scored three goals and two assists for the Golden Flyers in the win.
The Golden Flyers have now won 12 straight games entering the E8 Championship game, while the Cardinals enter ranked ninth in the 2026 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse National Power Index.
It is the sixth straight year that St. John Fisher and Nazareth will meet in the E8 Championship game. Last season, the Cardinals knocked off Nazareth 21-10 in the title game and have won five straight E8 Championships over Nazareth.
NO. 1 NAZARETH 22, NO. 4 UTICA 6
The Golden Flyers erased a 4-2 deficit in the second quarter, going on an 18-0 scoring run over the next 28 minutes, propelling them to a 22-6 win over Utica (7-10) from NLPA Field.
Kyle Rosenberger delivered a career performance, posting a personal best eight points and matching his career high with six goals.
Matthew Farrington,
William O'Neill, and
Hayden Lucas each tallied three goals. Farrington added two assists while O'Neill added one.
Ryan Avery (2A),
William Meagher (2G) and
Luke Suchyna (1G, 1A) had two points each.
Nazareth drew first blood three minutes in when
Kyle Rosenberger found
Matthew Farrington alone in front, giving Farrington his ninth career playoff goal. Utica then countered as they scored twice in three minutes to take a 2-1 lead.
Utica goalkeeper Jake Bowen was up to the task in the first quarter, as he made eight saves to preserve the 2-1 Utica lead. Early into the second frame
William O'Neill broke through to even the score at two a side, but Utica responded with two quick goals from Lucas Donohue and Danny Dunn to regain the lead at 4-2.
Just 19 seconds after Utica made it 4-2, O'Neill doubled down to pull Nazareth back within one. This goal ignited an 18-0 scoring run for the Golden Flyers which saw Rosenberger dominate, scoring six times in less than ten minutes. During the Nazareth onslaught,
Matthew Farrington scored twice to complete his hat trick, while
Hayden Lucas and
William Meagher added two goals apiece.
The third quarter ended with the Golden Flyers scoring 10 straight goals to hold a commanding 16-4 advantage.
Ryan Considine scored twice for the Pioneers, while Bwen made 22 saves for the Pioneers, who finished the season with a 7-10 mark. This was Utica's first ever trip to the Empire 8 semifinals.
NO. 2 ST. JOHN FISHER 18, NO. 3 SUNY GENESEO 9
The No. 2-seeded St. John Fisher University men's lacrosse team outscored No. 3-seeded SUNY Geneseo 16-3 after falling behind by four goals in the first quarter en route to an 18-9 victory in the Empire 8 Conference Championship Semifinals on Thursday evening at Growney Stadium.
Junior attackman Garrett Sutton powered the Cardinals on the offensive end with a career-high seven total points, six of them coming on goals. Senior midfielder Lane Edinger scored five goals, while junior midfielder Sean Donaldson tallied four total points on three goals and an assist. Four Cardinals chipped in two points apiece, including senior midfielders Nick Hauman (one goal, one assist) and Brett Seaman (one goal, one assist), junior midfielder Robbie Salit (two goals) and junior attackman Scott Bovard (two assists).
St. John Fisher senior goalkeeper Tyler Manning finished with nine saves. The Cardinals' defense had a spectacular second half, holding the Knights to just one goal.
The Knights came out clicking offensively, jumping out to a 6-2 lead over the first nine minutes. Geneseo got goals from six different players during that stretch, including Ryan Trebing, Owen Ellick, Josh Knapp, Ronnie Trebing, Max Esposito and Askel Stantat.
Fisher began grinding its way back over the final five-plus minutes of the opening quarter on two goals from Salit and one from Sutton to Geneseo's lead to 6-5. Hauman tied the game at the 9:43 mark of the second quarter with a strike off an assist from Seaman, and Sutton gave the Cardinals their first lead of the day less than a minute later, burying a feed from Bovard.
The teams combined for three more goals over the final eight minutes of the high-scoring first half, with Ian Leahey scoring for Geneseo to make it 7-7 before St. John Fisher went back in front on an unassisted tally from Donaldson. The Knights pulled even again in the final minute of the half on Jacob Pensabene's unassisted goal.
The game's decisive run began early in the third quarter with Sutton's fourth goal of the day, which gave the Cardinals the lead for good. Edinger scored twice, while Sutton added another goal and Donaldson recorded his second of the day as Fisher stretched its lead to 13-8 by the end of the third. Geneseo managed just two shots on goal and committed four turnovers in the frame.
Fisher's stretch of unanswered goals reached six on Edinger's fourth goal of the game early in the fourth quarter. Stanat scored Geneseo's lone goal of the second half about three minutes later to pull Geneseo within five, 14-9, but the Cardinals put the game away with a 4-0 burst that included goals from Sutton, Seaman, Donaldson and Edinger.
The Cardinals went 22-of-30 on faceoffs. Freshman Jonah Vormwald finished 20-of-28 with a game-high 16 ground balls. Junior defender Ethan Hodge led the Cardinals with two caused turnovers. He also had two ground balls.
The Cardinals improved to 13-0 in E8 Tournament games since 2019 and 14-1 overall under head coach Dave Dobbins.
Stanat led Geneseo with four points on two goals and two assists. Ben Bradshaw made 10 saves for the Knights, who finished the 2026 season with a 12-6 record.
2026 Empire 8 Men’s Lacrosse Championship Schedule
Tuesday, April 28 – First Round
No. 5 Utica University defeated No. 4 Hartwick College, 13-12 – BOX SCORE
No. 3 SUNY Geneseo defeated No. 6 Alfred University, 15-5 – BOX SCORE
Thursday, April 30 - Semifinals
No. 1 Nazareth University defeated No. 5 Utica University, 22-6 – BOX SCORE
No. 2 St. John Fisher University defeated No. 3 SUNY Geneseo, 18-9 – BOX SCORE
Saturday, May 2 - Championship
No. 2 St. John Fisher University at No. 1 Nazareth University – 1 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS