PITTSFORD, N.Y.– The St. John Fisher College men's lacrosse team celebrated its Senior Day and clinched an Empire 8 Conference Postseason berth on Saturday afternoon, with a 23-9 victory over Houghton College. The Cardinals have now won three straight games and improved to 10-5 overall and 4-2 in the Empire 8, while the Highlanders fall to 1-12 overall and 0-6 in the conference. 
 
The Cardinals honored seniors Andrew Rosso, TJ VanDeusen, Jake Rotenberg, Justin Townsend, Quinn Mulherin, and Vincenzo Ferrara prior to the opening faceoff for their commitment to the men's lacrosse program over the past four years. 
 
Fisher got on the scoreboard quickly after the opening whistle, as Zach Wagner scored just before the 13-minute mark ,for his 21^st of the season. Aside from one Highlander tally in the first quarter, the Cardinals were able to find the back of the net three more times before the start of the second quarter. Danny Turck, Jake Riley, and Chance Gates found the back of the net, with Turk and Gates also adding assists.
 
Much like the first quarter, the Cardinals jumped on the scoreboard quickly, just 47 seconds into the second quarter as Rosso scored his 33^rd of the season from Mitch Rein. From there, the home side rattled off seven-consecutive goals over an eight-minute span that increased the lead to 11-1. 
 
The Cardinal goal scorers included Jacob Risavi, Domenic Delvecchio, Gates, Rosso, Turck and two from VanDeusen. After two Highlander shots were able to beat goalkeeper Kyle Halladay, Nicholas Miller scored his first goal of the afternoon at the 1:03 mark of the second quarter, as the Cardinals brought a 13-3 advantage into the halftime break. 
 
In the third 15-minute quarter, both sides traded three-goal runs starting with the Cardinals Wagner just 1:08 into the quarter. Miller followed up with his second of the game off of a feed from Austin Jobson. Gates completed his hat-trick at the 8:43 mark of the third, as it was Rosso this time picking up the assist. 
 
Houghton however was able to cut the Fisher lead back to 10, after the Highlanders held the Cardinals scoreless over the last eight and a half minutes of the third quarter. 
 
Fisher's offense came back alive in the fourth quarter, as Miller finished off is five-goal day with two in the final 15. Joshua Brazell scored his first career goal at the 8:40 mark, as the freshman scored three times in the fourth quarter. Also scoring his first career goal on Saturday was freshman Matt Jeffries at the 7:13 mark. Houghton tacked on two more goals in the final two minutes, however the Cardinals improved to 7-1 at home this season and 4-2 in the conference. 
 
Fisher's dominating performance helped Dave Dobbins's squad clinch a spot in the Empire 8 Conference Tournament and also secured a double digit win season for the 10^th time in program history. 
 
Justin Townsend was credited with the victory, moving his record to 10-5 overall in 2018. Also seeing time between the pipes was Halladay, Jorge Medina, Nicholas Hallinan, and Brandon Moore. 
 
The Cardinals were dominant in the faceoff circle, winning 32 of 36 draws as Cody Lamond finished with a game-high eight ground balls, followed by Jack Mulvihill and Joe Post who notched seven and six ground balls respectively.
 
The Cardinals are back in action on Saturday at 1 p.m., when they travel to Elmira where they can clinch the number two seed in the Empire 8 Conference Tournament with a victory over the Soaring Eagles.