ALFRED, N.Y. – The nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College men's lacrosse team clinched the Empire 8 Regular Season Championship for the first time since 2010 as the Cardinals defeated Alfred University, 18-13, at Yunevich Stadium.  With the win, Fisher, which is ranked 11th in the latest United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association poll, improved to 9-3 overall and 3-0 in Empire 8 action while the Saxons fell to 5-2, 2-2, respectively.

The Cardinals have now earned the right to host the Empire 8 Championship and will play a semifinal game inside Growney Stadium on Thursday, May 6th.  A time and opponent will be announced at a later date.

It was all Fisher to begin the first period as the Cardinals scored five goals over the first nine minutes including three from Ian Evans, but the Saxons weathered the storm and hit back with four goals of their own in a span of six minutes to pull to within one, 5-4.

Holding a slim edge, Fisher closed out the quarter with its sixth goal as Evans skirted past the Saxons' defense and buried a shot in the back of the cage to give head coach Dave Dobbins' team a 6-4 advantage heading to the second quarter.

The Cardinals' offense continued to produce as the frame got underway with Fisher extending its lead to six as Tucker O'Donnell hit Jacob Risavi to make it 10-4.  Alfred would cut the gap to five at 2:23 remaining in the half, but back-to-back goals from Evans staked Fisher to a 12-5 cushion heading into the break.

After swapping goals over the first 7:19 of the third, the Cardinals saw their lead expand to nine with two straight tallies from Matthew Kemmis to hold a 16-7 margin.  The home team would pull to within eight, but a goal from Mulvihill with 34 seconds left in the period afforded Fisher a 17-8 lead with 15 minutes still to go.

Facing an uphill climb against one of the top defenses in Division III, Alfred looked to make its move as the Saxons outscored Fisher 4-1 in a stretch of 10 minutes.  With time running out, Alfred notched another goal with under two minutes to play to make it a five-goal game, but the comeback bid was not to be as Fisher remained unbeaten in conference play.

Evans was the go-to threat for Fisher as the junior finished with a game-high six goals.  Nicholas Miller finished out the win with four assists in all and had two ground balls while Mulvihill netted three goals and handed out one assist at the midfield position.  O'Donnell was credited with three helpers for Fisher while Jordan Depetres and Kemmis each scored two goals.

Joe Post was 18-for-30 in the faceoff game and finished with 13 ground balls while Matt Jeffries helped the Cardinals' cause with nine ground balls of his own.   

In goal, Darin Eakins moved to 9-3 with the win as the graduate student made six saves and allowed 12 goals in all.  Brandon Moore played four minutes in cage and surrendered one goal.