PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College men's lacrosse continued its run of top 25 opponents on Saturday as the No. 17 Cardinals nearly doubled up the No. 18 Bombers, 17-9, in a non-conference matchup inside Growney Stadium.  With the win, Fisher, which has now played four consecutive ranked opponents, improved to 4-3 on the year while the Bombers suffered their first loss of the year and fell to 2-1.

It didn't take long for the Cardinals' high-powered offense to get going as head coach Dave Dobbins' squad scored four goals and tested the Bombers' defense with 12 shots over the first 15 minutes of play.

As the second quarter got underway, Fisher would extend its lead to six goals following tallies from Ian Evans a behind-the-back goal from Matthew Kemmis, but Ithaca would cut the deficit to three after scoring three straight marks of its own to pull to within 6-3.

With the first half winding down, Fisher began to pull away as Jacob Gallina found Evans on the far side to make it 7-3 before Tucker O'Donnell connected with Nicholas Miller for a man-up goal and an 8-3 edge heading into the halftime break.

Both teams looked to capture the momentum in the third quarter with Fisher and Ithaca swapping scores over the first five minutes of play to make it 10-5 in the home team's favor.  The Bombers would find the back of the net at 7:22, but were unable to stop Fisher on the other end as the Cardinals closed out the quarter on a 3-1 run that included goals from Gallina, Evans and Miller to take a 13-7 advantage into the final 15 minutes of play.

Ahead by six, Fisher tacked on two more quick goals after Samuel Miller weaved through the Bombers' defense for a goal and Jordan Depetres scored a man-up tally off a pass from Gallina to make it 15-7 midway through the fourth.

With time running out in the game, Ithaca was able to cut the gap to seven, but Fisher proved to be too much on the offensive end of the field with Tyler Edinger assisting on a Evans' fifth goal of the day before Depetres found the back of the net on an extra-man opportunity to make it 17-8.

In all, nine different Cardinals scored a goal led by Evans who finished the day with five goals and an assist to go along with three ground balls and a caused turnover.  Miller netted three goals and assisted on another while Depetres notched four points in the win including a hat trick. 

Joe Post was 18-for-26 at X and extended his own program record after scooping up 11 ground balls.  Matt Jeffries collected four ground balls in the win and caused a team-high three turnovers.

In goal, Darin Eakins moved to 4-3 after making 11 saves in nearly 60 minutes of play.

Fisher will make its debut in Empire 8 play at 7 p.m. on Wednesday when it travels to Keuka to take on the Wolves.