The St. John Fisher College women's lacrosse team will look to defend its 2012 title in the Empire 8 Championship this weekend. A championship victory would not only be the second consecutive, but the fourth in the past seven years.
 
With a record of 13-3, 6-1 in the Empire 8 (its only loss coming to top-seeded Ithaca), Fisher has earned the No. 2 seed in the four-team tournament and will travel to host Ithaca to take on the No. 3 seed Nazareth College Golden Flyers in the first semifinal game on Saturday at 3 p.m.
 
The winner of the game will move on to the championship game and will face the winner of the first semifinal between Ithaca and the No. 4 seed Stevens Institute of Technology Ducks.  The Empire 8 Conference title game will be played at 2 p.m. at Ithaca on Sunday.
 
The winner of the tournament will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Championship.
 
Senior Melissa Leonhard leads the Cardinals with 51 goals this season, adding eight assists for a total of 59 points, which is good for second on the team. She also leads the team with 82 draw controls on the year. Junior Taylor Hughes leads the Conference with 72 points on 43 goals and a team-leading 29 assists. Samantha Barton and Erin Ward have chipped in with 33 and 23 goals, respectively.
 
Junior Caroline Trpcevski has led the team between the pipes with over 452 minutes in goal, compiling 39 saves for a 36.1 save percentage.

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