PITTSFORD, N.Y. – In the battle of East Ave rivals, the St. John Fisher College men's lacrosse team downed Nazareth College, 10-8, Saturday afternoon in the light rain. With the win, Fisher improves to 6-3 overall and 1-1 in the conference. Nazareth drops to 4-6 on the season and 1-1 in the Empire 8.

Fisher controlled much of the opening period as the Cardinals were the only team to find the back of the net. Drew Brown netted one just over two minutes into the contest followed by a Nick Papayanakos goal at the 9:30 mark.

Nazareth cracked the scoresheet in the second scoring one at the 7:04 mark but the Cardinals had an answer. Just 1:53 later TJ VanDeusen recorded his 10^th goal of the year to increase the lead back up to two. Andrew Rosso then capped off the first half scoring with a goal 2:34 before the halftime whistle.

After intermission, Nazareth found some offense, putting up two and cutting the Fisher lead to just one. The Cardinal offense retaliated through Andrew Rosso though, as the junior cashed in two more to give him an early hat trick.

With a 6-4 lead, Fisher blew it open, scoring three in the first 5:30 of the stanza. Nazareth responded with three of its own but a Papayanakos goal at the 1:52 mark insured the victory for Fisher.

Rosso led the offense, finishing the day with four goals and one assist. Brown and Papayanakos both pitched in as well, scoring two a piece.

Defensively, Zakary Bussey was filled up the scoresheet with three caused turnovers and five groundballs.

Tanner Swan had a monster game in net, saving 16 Nazareth shots. The senior netminder was integral in the first half, racking up 10 saves alone.

Men's lacrosse will return to action at 4 p.m. on Tuesday as the team hosts Union College for a bit of non-conference action.