Houghton, N.Y. – The No. 24 St. John Fisher College women's lacrosse team clinched a berth in the Empire 8 Conference Tournament with a 18-3 victory over Houghton College on Saturday afternoon.  With the win, the Cardinals improved to 12-2 overall and 5-1 in the Empire 8, while the Highlanders fell to 5-8 overall and 3-4 in the conference. 
 
Fisher was able to find the back of the net quickly after the opening whistle, as Mallory Eymer took a pass from Kelsie Schindler and scored her 27^th of the year just 32 seconds into the game. 
 
From there, the Cardinals rattled off six more goals before the clock hit the 20-minute mark of the first half. Mackenzie LeVan scored her 20^th, followed by Schindler's 22^nd, Claire Bollin's 27^th, Olivia Marziale's 11^th, Emily Smith's seventh, and Eymer's second of the day. Schindler also added two more assists during the Cardinal goal scoring run.
 
The next 10 minutes of play, saw four more Fisher goals as the Cardinals opened up an 11-0 lead, with 10 minutes remaining before halftime. Allison Rupp joined the scoresheet at the 19:15 mark, which was followed by goals from Logan Chase and Jenna Lippert.  Smith found the back of the net for a second time, as the senior was able to finish off a pass from Maria Hristodoulou. 
 
Molly Rourke finished off the scoring for Fisher in the first-half with her fourth of the season at the 2:45 mark. Houghton scored its first goal of the afternoon at the 1:28 mark, as the Cardinals carried a 12-1 lead into the halftime break. 
 
To start off the second half, Smith completed her hat-trick at the 27:17 mark, which opened up a four-goal run for the visitors. Sara Roman found the back of the net next, as the freshman tallied her third goal of the season. Molly Tice and Mary Grace Doyle scored less than two minutes apart, as Fisher led 16-1 with 18 minutes remaining in the game. 
 
Both sides traded goals back and forth for the remaining 10 minutes, as the Highlanders scored twice at the 10:15 and 2:28 marks. Chase and Marziale each added their second goals of the game, as the Cardinals closed out their seventh consecutive victory. 
 
Goalkeeper Morgan Hayes was credited with her seventh victory of the season after finishing with one save, while Claudia Mocciaro saw the second half action in between the pipes for Fisher. 
 
Linda Michele's squad clinched a berth in the Empire 8 Conference for the seventh consecutive season with the win and are back in action on Tuesday, when the team welcomes Alfred University to Growney Stadium at 4 p.m.