The St. John Fisher College women's lacrosse jumped out to a 15-2 first half lead, and never looked back as it defeated the visiting Alfred University Saxons 21-3 at Growney Stadium on Saturday afternoon.  With the Empire 8 win, Fisher improves to 3-1 in the conference and 8-4 overall on the season.  Alfred remains winless in the E8 as they fall to 0-4, 4-7 on the year.

The Cardinals controlled every aspect of the game, as they outscored their opponent 7-0 over the first 15:13 of the contest.  Melissa Leonhard got Fisher on the board just 1:20 in as she scored her first of three goals off an assist from Erin Ward.  Taylor Hughes also added two goals in the spurt, before Alfred got on the board to make the game 7-1.

However, the Cardinals answered with another 7-0 streak that started with Leonhard completing her hat trick and ended with Allison Brady scoring her first goal of the season.  Tori Suto capped of the dominating first half with a goal with seven seconds remaining in the stanza.

The Cardinal defense held strong in the second half, as Molly Naylon replaced Cardinal starting netminder Caroline Trpcevski between the pipes and held the Saxons to one goal.  Trpcevski finished with two saves in the first 30.

Fisher added six more goals in the final 30 minutes, including Emily Bryerton adding her second and Ward adding her lone goal of the day. 

Twelve Cardinals scored in the meeting, with Ward and Hughes leading Fisher with four points each.  Leonhard scored three goals on the day, while Brady added three points on a goal and two assists.  Bryerton, Shannon McDermott, Lindsey Shoales and Kristina Lombard all scored two goals.  Bridget Alberts, Kristen Zylka and Blythe Sheridan each scored a goal while Jill Zerrillo added an assist.

Fisher outshot the Saxons 38-5 in the game, and also controlled ground balls with a 28-13 advantage.  Shoales and McDermott led the Cardinals from the draw circle, as Fisher grabbed 19 to Alfred's seven.  Fisher also forced 22 turnovers out of the visitors.

Fisher will return to action at 1 p.m. on Saturday when it hosts the Stevens Institute Ducks.