Samantha Barton, Erin Ward and Lexi Peebles each recorded a hat trick as the St. John Fisher College women's lacrosse team cruised to a 19-4 win over visiting Houghton College on Wednesday. With the win, the Cardinals have won five straight and improve to 11-4 overall and 6-1 in Empire 8 Conference play.

The Cardinals have already clinched a spot in the Empire 8 Championship, but their seeding will depend on their final regular season contests. Stevens Institute of Technology and Nazareth College have also clinched a spot, while Ithaca College and Utica College are also in the running for the tournament on May 2-3.

Fisher put together 15 goals in the first half, including 13 unanswered notches, to fuel the offense. Sierra Badger and Lindsey Shoales put the Cardinals on the scoreboard early, with tallies in the first three minutes of play. Houghton recorded its first goal of the day with 25:57 remaining in the opening half before Fisher went on its 13-0 run. During that time, Barton and Ward recorded their hat tricks.

1The Cardinals, who outshot the Highlanders 21-2 in the opening half, led 15-1 at halftime.

Mackenzie LeVan opened the second half with a goal in the first three minutes, making it a 16-1 game in favor of Fisher. Lexi Peebles scored Fisher's next three goals and the first three of her career to close out the Cardinals' scoring.

Houghton added three goals in the second half against goalkeeper Jenn Crater. Starting goalkeeper Nicole Hart earned the win in net, allowing just one goal. She improves to 8-4 on the year.

Cori Holbrook led Fisher in points (5) on one goal and four assists.

The Cardinals visit SUNY Geneseo for a non-conference contest at 4:30 p.m. Thursday before closing out the regular season at 1 p.m. Saturday at Elmira College.