Clearwater, Florida – The St. John Fisher College men's lacrosse team fell in the first matchup of their annual spring break trip, to Misericordia University in a very physical matchup by a score of 9-8. With the loss, Fisher falls to 2-1 overall, while Misericordia improves to 4-0 early on in the 2018 campaign.

Fisher jumped out to a quick start in the first quarter scoring the game's first three goals. Zach Wagner got the train rolling just 42 seconds into that game when the senior put one past the Cougar's goalkeeper off of a great individual effort. The next two Cardinal goals were scored by Nicholas Miller and Danny Turck, with Andrew Rosso and Wagner each picking up an assists. Misericordia was able to put away two late quarter goals to bring the score to 3-2.

The Cardinals again jumped out to an early start in the second quarter, Turck and Wagner both tallied their second goals of the game to put the Cardinals ahead of the Cougars 5-2 midway through the second 15 minutes. Misericordia answered with two goals of their own, one coming with just three seconds remaining till halftime.

Just before the halftime horn sounded, Cody Lamond won the face off cleanly and was able to pick up the ground ball and get the ball to Rosso who miraculously threw a shot toward the net before time expired, which then went past the goalkeeper to give the Cardinals a 6-4 advantage heading into halftime.

Miller notched his second goal of the game just under two minutes into the third quarter putting the Cardinals ahead 7-4. From there, the Cougars went on a four goal run and were able to take of the momentum as they jumped ahead 8-7 heading into the final quarter.

Misericordia added a quick goal a minute and a half into the fourth quarter to increase their lead to two goals. However, for most of the final quarter, both teams were able to hold off each other's offensive attacks, until Fisher put another one on the scoreboard as Turck notched his first career hat-trick. Both teams were held scoreless for the remainder of the game, as the Cougars took home the victory.

The Cardinals are back in action on Saturday when they take on Clark University at 12 p.m. in their second and final game in Clearwater, Florida.