ONEONTA, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College men's lacrosse team fell to Hartwick College by a score of 6-5 in its first Empire 8 Conference game of the 2018 season. The Cardinals fell to 5-3 overall and 0-1in the conference, while the Hawks improved to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the Empire 8.
 
Both teams were held scoreless for the majority of the first quarter, however Fisher was the first team on the scoreboard as Zach Wagner notched his 10^th of the season at the 2:53 mark. The lead did not last long as the Hawks tallied their first goal of the afternoon with only six seconds remaining in the first 15-minute quarter.
 
The second quarter started off the same with the Cardinals tallying the first goal of the quarter this time off of the stick of TJ VanDeusen on the man-advantage, with Nicholas Miller picking up his 6^th assist of the season.
 
Fisher was able to take the momentum for the remainder of the quarter as it rattled off two more goals before the horn sounded for halftime. Chance Gates continued his scoring week picking up his 12^th of the year off of an Andrew Rosso assist. Miller put away his 13^th of the season from Mitch Rein at the 3:37 mark as the Cardinals took a 4-2 lead into the halftime break.
 
Just over one minute into the third quarter Danny Turck was able to beat the Hartwick goalkeeper on the man-up advantage to give the Cardinals a thee goal lead. However, the Hawks tallied two goals of their own to cut the Fisher lead to just one heading into the final 15-minute quarter.
 
Fisher was held scoreless for the duration of the game even though it was able to out-shoot Hartwick in the fourth quarter 7-5. The Hawks tallied two more and were able to lock-down defensively to take the one goal victory in both team's Empire 8 Conference opener.
 
Goalkeeper Justin Townsend suffered the loss in the game, bringing his record to 5-3 overall after the senior finished with five saves in 60 minutes of action. Joe Post again dominated in the faceoff circle finishing 12 for 14, as well as picking up a game-high 10 ground balls.
 
The Cardinals are back in action on Tuesday when the team hosts Hamilton College in a non-conference matchup at Growney Stadium scheduled for a 5 p.m. faceoff.