Men's Lacrosse | 5/2/2026 7:53:00 PM
PITTSFORD, NY – A second-quarter surge propelled the No. 2-seeded St. John Fisher men's lacrosse team to a 14-7 victory over No. 1-seeded Nazareth in the Empire 8 Conference Championship on Saturday at packed NLPA Field.
The Cardinals secured their seventh consecutive Empire 8 title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Tournament with the victory, which avenged their 12-7 regular-season loss to the Golden Flyers (12-7). Additionally, St. John Fisher (17-2) improved to 6-0 in conference championship games against its East Avenue rival.
St. John Fisher senior goalkeeper Tyler Manning was named the 2026 Empire 8 Tournament Most Valuable Player. Manning made a season-high 18 saves while anchoring a defense that clamped down on a Nazareth team that had scored 20 or more goals in nine of its previous 10 games entering Saturday's championship. The Golden Flyers' seven goals marked their fewest since a 19-7 loss to Cortland on March 11.
Senior midfielder Lane Edinger and freshman midfielder Hayden Lauer each tallied two goals and a pair of assists to lead the Cardinals offensively. Junior attackman Scott Bovard found the back of the cage a team-high three times, while junior midfielder Sean Donaldson also had three points, scoring twice and tallying an assist. Senior midfielder Brett Seaman (two goals), junior attacker Garrett Sutton (one goal, one assist) and freshman midfielder Grady Swidersky (two assists) contributed two points each.
Cardinals freshman faceoff specialist Jonah Vormwald, who struggled against the Golden Flyers a few weeks ago, finished 19-of-25 from the X with eight ground balls. He went just 3-of-11 in the loss on April 18.
Joey Hathorn scored two goals and added an assist for Nazareth, while Kyle Rosenberger scored two goals. Goalkeeper Sven Habitzreuther made 19 saves.
How It Happened
After the teams each scored twice in the first 15 minutes, the Cardinals pounded the Golden Flyers with a 7-1 second quarter to take firm command of the game. Fisher deposited six unanswered tallies over the first 10 minutes of the frame, with Bovard accounting for two of them. Edinger, Sutton, Donaldson and junior attacker Carter Van Holland each scored once during that stretch.
Nazareth's scoring drought ended with 3:31 left in the first half, but the Cardinals pushed their lead back to six in the final minute when Lauer buried a feed from Edinger.
Edinger scored his second of the game less than a minute into the third quarter to give the Cardinals a seven-goal lead at 10-3. Nazareth quickly responded to make it 10-4, though the Cardinals made sure the Golden Flyers wouldn't spark a run. About 15 seconds later, Fisher went back in front by seven on sophomore defender Garrin Dougherty's second collegiate goal.
The score remained 11-4 until the 3:07 mark of the third quarter, when Matthew Farrington scored to get the Golden Flyers within six. The Cardinals fired right back to deflate the Golden Flyers once again, as Donaldson and Seaman scored before the quarter ended to make it 13-5.
Seaman scored his second goal of the game early in the fourth quarter to give the Cardinals their largest lead of the day at 14-5.
Nazareth scored a pair of goals late, with the game all but decided.
Game Notes
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The Cardinals matched the program record for wins in a season (17) with the victory.
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The Cardinals won their 14th consecutive Empire 8 postseason game.
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The Cardinals improved to 15-1 in E8 Tournament games under head coach Dave Dobbins.
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The Cardinals improved to 7-2 all-time against the Golden Flyers in the postseason.
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This marks the second time that the Cardinals have won an E8 championship game as the road team. They won their last five at home.
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Freshman defender Drew Turk caused two turnovers and picked up a season-high six ground balls.
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Over two Empire 8 playoff games, Edinger had nine points on seven goals and two assists.
Up Next
The Cardinals will watch the NCAA Tournament Selection Show as a team on Sunday.