PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College men's lacrosse team will be making its way down to Hoboken N.J. on Saturday to play for an Empire 8 Conference Championship as the Cardinals took down Hartwick 22-8 in the semi-final round at Growney Stadium on Wednesday evening. With the victory, Fisher improves to 15-2 overall on the season, while the Hawks finish their 2019 season 11-4 overall.

In the other Empire 8 semi-final game, Stevens defeated Nazareth by a score of 17-12 to also advance to the championship game. As the No. 1 overall seed, Stevens will host the matchup with the second-seeded Cardinals on Saturday beginning at 12 p.m.  

Nicholas Miller and Joe Post each re-wrote the Empire 8 Conference record books throughout the win as the Cardinals continue their record-setting season. Miller led the way with season-high six goals as the sophomore broke the all-time Empire 8 record for goals in a single season with a total of 71 and counting. Post, broke the Empire 8 Conference single-game records for most faceoff wins and most ground balls grabbed, as the Canandaigua finished a perfect 28-28 inside the faceoff circle, while also grabbing a career-high 27 ground balls.

The Cardinals were the first team on the scoreboard in the semi-final matchup as Ian Evans opened the game's scoring at the 10:39 mark with his 44^th of the season on the man-up advantage.

Hartwick answered back quickly as the Hawks were able to tie the game back up at one a piece just three minutes after the Evans tally.

From there, Fisher would add two more goals to its lead, while shutting-out the Hawks for the remaining seven minutes as Miller and Chance Gates put the Cardinals up to two goals as the second period approached.

The second period began much like the first as Danny Turck scored the period's first goal, off of a feed from Miller just 46 seconds after the opening whistle.

Once again, Hartwick was able to cut the Fisher lead back to two goals as the Hawks took advantage of a Fisher turnover in its defensive end of the field at the 13:07 mark.

However, Fisher was able to regain the momentum quickly as the Cardinals rattled off a four-goal scoring run through the next eight minutes of game time. Second period goal scorers included Miller, Gates, and Zach Wagner.

As the second period winded down, both sides added one more goal to their totals as Wagner scored his second of the game and 28^th of the season to put Fisher ahead 9-3 at the halftime break.

Hartwick was the first team on the scoreboard as the third quarter got underway as the Hawks cut the Fisher lead to five goals at the 12:49 mark.

After a three minute illegal equipment penalty was called on Post, Miller scored his fourth goal of the game on the man-down advantage, while the Cardinal defense remained on lock down for the entirety of the three minute un-releasable penalty.  

From there Fisher would use that momentum, tacking on six more goals to its lead throughout the remainder of the third period as goal scorers included Miller, Post, William Fell, Jack Mulvihill, and Tucker O'Donnell.

The Fisher goal scoring run would make its way into the fourth period as the Cardinals would score the game's next four goals, to wrap-up a stretch of 10 consecutive goals.  Over the opening first eight minutes of action in the final quarter, the Cardinals to find the back of the net included Gates, Wagner, and Jordan Depetres.

Over the final seven minutes of regulation, Hartwick would find the back of the cage a total of four times, while Fisher would add two goals to its total as Evans and Brennan O'Brien closed out the Cardinals' goal scoring.

The Fisher defense once again showed its strength throughout the semi-final as the Cardinals caused 18 Hartwick turnovers, with Cole Fowler leading the way with two of them.  As a team, Fisher finished a perfect 3-3 on man-up opportunities, while also converting 14-17 of its clear attempts.

Seven different Cardinals tallied multi-point games in the victory with Miller leading the way with eight points, while the senior Wagner added six of his own.

Broken hand and all, Darin Eakins won his 12^th game of the season between the pipes for the Cardinals as the junior finished with seven saves in just over 52 minutes of action.

The Cardinals will look to bring home an Empire 8 Conference Championship when they return to action versus Stevens on Saturday at 12 p.m. in Hoboken, N.J. in the championship games.