Box Score

The St. John Fisher College women's lacrosse team defeated Fredonia State 9-8 in overtime in the first round of the NCAA Division III Championship on Wednesday night. Emily Bryerton gave Fisher its only lead of the game with 1:57 left to play in the first portion of the overtime, a lead the Cardinals would not relinquish. Caroline Trpcevski stopped a shot from point blank range with 14 second remaining in the game to secure the victory for the Cardinals.

With the win the Cardinals move to 15-4 on the year, setting a single season College record for wins, and will move on to face the No. 1 team in the land, Salisbury University, at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday in Salisbury, MD.

Also setting a College record in the game was Taylor Hughes who, with her four goals in regulation, half of the Cardinals scores in the two periods, moved her total to 70 for the year, a new single-season mark.  She also currently holds the record for points in a season this with 98.

The Cardinals got off to a slow start, trailing 3-0 from 18:43 in the first half until Melissa Leonhard got Fisher on the board with 9:09 on the clock. Fisher would allow a goal less than 20 seconds later, but then rattled off two-straight goals to head the teams into the locker room with Fredonia holding on to a 4-3 margin.

Hughes scored her second goal 2:50 into the second half, knotting the score at 4-4. Fredonia would then push its lead to 6-4 before Leonhard scored off a pass from Hughes with 15:59 left in the game to close the margin again to just one.

The Blue Devils then pushed the advantage to two with a goal at 11:57, but Hughes scored on a free position shot at 10:10 before finding Leonhard again at 7:58 to tie the game at 7-7.

Fredonia took another lead with 3:39 remaining, but it would be its last as Hughes scored an unassisted goal with 2:46 left in regulation.

Lindsey Shoales won the opening draw control in the overtime period which allowed Fisher to control possession until Bryerton rebounded her own saved shot to score the game-winner.

Shoales finished the game with four draw controls while Hughes led the team with five. Hughes had four goals and three assists to total seven points, a game-high in all three categories.

Trpcevski got the win in 66 minutes between the pipes, saving eight Blue Devils shot, including the last win-securing turn-away.