The nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College women's lacrosse program scored five straight goals in the second half and held on in the final moments for a 10-9 win over visiting Nazareth College on Wednesday night in a pivotal Empire 8 Conference matchup.
 
With the win, the No. 17^th-ranked Cardinals improve to 12-1 overall and 4-0 in the Empire 8 Conference.  It is the best start to a season in the program's 17-year history.  Nazareth falls to 7-5, 2-2.
 
In a tightly-played contest - the game was tied 1s, 3s, 4s, 5s and 6s – Nazareth scored the opening goal of the second half to take its only lead of the game at 6-5 less than two minutes into the second half.

Fisher, however, scored the game's next five goals, including three straight from Cori Holbrook, to take a 10-6 lead.   Holbrook tied the game at 6-6 less than one after Nazareth took the lead.  Twenty-two seconds later, the sophomore scored her second goal to give Fisher the lead for good at 7-6 with 26:57 left.
 
Nazareth scored three goals in the final 9:20, including one goal with 30 seconds left, to make it a one-goal game, but Fisher won the ensuing draw and was able to kill the clock.

Goalie Molly Maguire earned the win in goal.   The sophomore entered the game with 15:55 left in the first half and made seven goals, while allowing six goals.

In addition to her three goals, Holbrook led Fisher with four draw controls.   Junior Jordan Johnson scored two goals and added one assist for three points.

Senior Chrissy Cook scored twice, while Kelsie Schindler, Sierra Badger Mackenzie LeVan also scored.  Badger also won three draws.
Sophomore Morgan Young led Fisher with three ground balls and two caused turnovers.

Fisher returns to action with its final two home games of the regular season.  The Cardinals will host Elmira College on Saturday and Stevens Institute of Technology on Sunday.  Both games will start at noon.