Victor, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College men's lacrosse team took down SUNY Potsdam on Friday afternoon at the Pinnacle Athletic Campus by a score of 23-8. With the win, the Cardinals improve to 2-0 overall on the season, while the Bears fall to 0-1 overall.

The Fisher offense came out firing in the first quarter as the Cardinals tallied 15 shots compared to the six for Potsdam. Both sides would battle back-and-forth trying to gain the early momentum as Fisher would only hold a 6-5 advantage at the end of the first 15 minutes.

Goal scorers in the first period of play included Ian Evans, Chance Gates, Jack Mulvihill, Danny Turck, and Zach Wagner.

As the opening half of play closed, the reigning Empire 8 Conference Player of the week, Ian Evans, picked up right where he left off from last week by scoring four goals in the first half, while senior teammate Zach Wagner added two.

The Fisher defense was dominant in the second period of play as the Cardinals held the Bears to zero shots on goal, while the offense was able to find the back of the net four times before the halftime whistle.

Three Cardinals tallied goals in the second period including Evans, Wagner, and Mitch Rein.

As the second half got underway, the Fisher offense continued to click, opening the second half with four more goals within the first five minutes of play. From there, Potsdam was able to beat goalkeeper Darin Eakins for the first time since the first quarter at the 7:03 mark.

The Cardinals were able to find the back of the net four more times as the third period wrapped up, as goals were scored by Evans, Gates, and Nicholas Miller.

After nine total goals were scored in the third period, the Cardinals and Bears combined to score seven in the final 15 minutes of play as the Cardinals finished with at least 20 goals for the second consecutive game to open the 2019 season.

Evans led the way for Fisher as the freshman notched five goals and two assists, while Miller added four goals and two assists as well.  

The Cardinal defense stood tall throughout the entire 60 minutes with Cole Fowler leading the way with three caused turnovers. Sophomore Joe Post finished 22-29 inside the faceoff circle, while grabbing a game-high 14 ground balls. Eakins was credited with second victory of the season, finishing with four saves in 48 minutes of game time. 

The Cardinals return to action next Thursday at 12:30 p.m. when they travel down to Clearwater, Florida to take on Missericordia followed by Clark University on Saturday.