PITTSFORD, N.Y. – Andrew Rosso scored four goals while both Danny Turck and Nicholas Miller each notched a hat trick as the St. John Fisher College men's lacrosse team got off to a strong start after defeating Morrisville State on Saturday in a non-conference matchup inside Growney Stadium.  The win, which also marked the first collegiate win for head coach Dave Dobbins, moved Fisher to 1-0 while the Mustangs, who have reached the NCAA Championship in each of the last three seasons, fell 0-1.

Turck started the action just 57 seconds into the first quarter after beating his defender and finding the back of the net to make it 1-0 in Fisher's favor.  The lead would be short-lived, however, as Morrisville went on a three-goal run to hold a 3-1 lead. 

As the first quarter continued, Turck and Rosso went to work as the pair each scored to tie the game at 3-3 heading into the second frame.

After nearly seven minutes of back-and-forth play in the second stanza, Fisher broke through as Turck corralled a pass from Chance Gates for a man-up goal.  Just 25 seconds later, Rosso followed suit to lift Fisher to a two-goal edge, 5-3.  The Mustangs would keep it close though as a goal cut the Cardinals' lead to just one, 5-4, before Rosso staked the home team to a 6-4 advantage heading into halftime.

Coming out of the break, Fisher wasted little time stretching its cushion as Turck found Nicholas Miller in front of the cage to make it 7-4 with 30 seconds gone by in the third.  Just eight seconds later, Fisher struck again as TJ VanDeusen took a feed from Zach Wagner and fired it into the back of the net to give Dobbins' squad an 8-4 edge.  Fisher wasn't done there, however, as Rosso slipped through Morrisville's defense and unleashed a rocket past the Mustangs' keeper to make it 9-4.

As play continued, Jake Riley and Domenic Delvecchio paired up to give Fisher a six-goal margin, but the Mustangs responded with three of the quarter's next four goals to head to the fourth trailing, 11-7.

The Cardinals got off to another quick start in the fourth as Miller posted his third goal of the day to make it 12-7, but the Cardinals' offense stalled as Morrisville rallied with three straight goals to pull to within two, 12-10.  With time winding down, Fisher was able to force a timely turnover as the Cardinals ran the clock down en route to a season-opening win.

The Cardinals found gold at X as Joe Post controlled the faceoff all game after winning 22-of-26 opportunities with 16 groundballs overall. 

As a team, Fisher picked up 36 groundballs and caused seven turnovers in all.  Rosso had 10 shots and three GBs while John Austin corralled two from the turf.

In goal, Justin Townsend picked up the win and moved to 1-0 after making seven stops in 60 minutes of play.

The Cardinals will continue their brief home stand at 4 p.m. on Friday when they welcome SUNY Postsdam to Growney Stadium for another non-conference tilt.