GENESEO, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College men's lacrosse team fell to SUNY Geneseo in a close non-conference battle on Monday evening by a score of 9-8. With the loss, the Cardinals fall to 7-5 overall, while the Knights improve to 5-4 in 2018.

Geneseo was the first on the scoreboard as the home side tallied two goals in the opening seven minutes. The Cardinals found the back of the net at the 3:28 mark of the first quarter, as Zach Wagner tallied his 19th of the season to bring Fisher back within one. The Knights however, were able to beat Justin Townsend with only 11 seconds remaining in the quarter to carry a 3-1 lead into the second 15 minutes.

Jack Mulvihill got the scoring started in the second quarter, as the freshman took a feed from Andrew Rosso and once again the Cardinals were back within one. Another Knight goal brought their lead back to 4-2 as both sides headed into the halftime break.

After a lone Geneseo goal at the 11:26 mark of the third quarter, the Cardinal offense was able to put together a scoring run with four consecutive goals, with three of them coming in less than two minute span. Joe Post was able to start the scoring run with the first of his career just 10 seconds after the Geneseo goal. Rosso followed up only 34 seconds later with his-team lead 23rd of the season from Chance Gates.

Mulvihill continued the scoring at the 9:45 mark with his second of the game, with Rosso again picked up the assist as Fisher tied the game back up at five apiece. Jake Riley tallied his third of the season off of a Nicholas Miller feed to give Fisher its first lead of the afternoon. The Knights were able to find the back of the net again late in the quarter however, as the scoreboard read six to six heading into the final 15 minutes.

In the fourth quarter, it was the Knights that jumped out on a scoring run as they were able to score the next three goals of the game through the first eight minutes of the final quarter, giving them a 9-6 advantage.

Mulvihill was able to beat the Geneseo goalkeeper for his hat-trick goal at the 4:20 mark, bringing Fisher back within two goals. Gates followed up two minutes later with his 16th of the season from Danny Turck. However, the Cardinals were held scoreless for the final 2:24 of the quarter as Geneseo held on for the non-conference victory.  

Townsend played all 60 minutes between the pipes for Fisher, moving to 7-5 overall as the senior finished with a game-high 11 saves. Post again was a monster in the faceoff circle, as the freshman finished 14 for 17 and grabbed a game-high 12 ground balls.

The Cardinals are back in action on Saturday, when they host Utica College in an Empire 8 Conference matchup at Growney Stadium, beginning at 1 p.m.