The nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College women's lacrosse program dropped it first Empire 8 Conference game of the season on Saturday, as the Cardinals suffered a 9-6 loss at East-Avenue rival Nazareth College.
 
With the loss, Fisher, ranked 17^th nationally, falls to 6-3 overall and 2-1 in the Empire 8 Conference, while Nazareth improves to 7-2, 2-0.
 
Fisher had won six straight over the Golden Flyers coming into Saturday's game.
 
Nazareth took the early lead, but Fisher tied it up at 1-1 on a goal from Lindsey Shoales off a pass from freshman Kennedy Frink with 26:44 left in the first half.  It would stay that score for the next 15 minutes, before the Golden Flyers scored four straight goals to take the lead for good.
 
Nazareth led 6-2 at the half, but Fisher scored the first two goals of the second half (both from Frink) to pull the Cardinals back to within two at 6-4 with 21:47 remaining.
 
The Golden Flyers, however, won the ensuing draw and scored just 30 second later, marking the start of a 3-0 run.
 
Fisher's Sierra Badger and Samantha Barton both scored to make it 9-6 with just over 10 minutes left, but the Cardinals couldn't find the back of the net for the remainder of the game.
 
Frink finished with two goals and two assists.  Jordan Johnson also scored.  Abbie Reed and Shoales each tallied four ground balls. 
 
Goalie Molly Maguire finished the game with two saves and three goals allowed.
 
Fisher returns to action at 4 p.m. on Thursday at nationally-ranked SUNY Cortland.