ITHACA, N.Y. – All-Americans Ian Evans and Nicholas Miller combined for nine goals and three assists on Saturday as the nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College men's lacrosse team upended Ithaca College, 20-12, in a the Cardinals' season-debut at Higgins Stadium.  With the win, Fisher, which is ranked seventh in the latest United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association national poll, improved to 1-0 while the Bombers, who are receiving votes in the same poll, dipped to 1-1.

Evans finished with a game-high five goals to go along with an assist and two groundballs while Miller added four goals, two assists and a groundball of his own.  Tucker O'Donnell netted two goals and handed out three assists in the win while Matthew Kemmis and Jacob Gallina each finished with a hat trick.

Joe Post was 11-for-20 in the faceoff department with a game-high 12 groundballs while Logan Grom went 9-for-11 and had four groundballs. 

It didn't take long for Fisher to put the Bombers in a deep hole as O'Donnell broke through just 44 seconds in to spark a 5-0 run.  After giving one back on a man-down situation, Fisher closed out the first quarter with five more unanswered goals including two tallies from Miller to hold a 10-1 edge heading into the second period.

With nine goals separating the two teams and 15 minutes in the books, both defenses buckled down before Bombers cut the deficit to eight with a goal at the 10:57 mark of the second quarter.  As the frame ticked down, the Cardinals got one back as Miller found Brennan O'Brien on the back side to cap the scoring with Fisher taking an 11-2 edge into the break.

As the third quarter got underway, Evans and Gallina each found the back of the net before the Bombers responded with three straight goals to pull to within eight, 13-5, midway through the period.

With momentum waning, Fisher regained control as the visitors bridged the third and fourth quarters with six unanswered goals to open up a 19-5 cushion. 

Facing a steep climb, Ithaca continued to work its offense and strung together seven of the game's final eight goals, but the Bombers would run out of time as the Cardinals picked up an important regional win.

In goal, sophomore Ben Hammond moved to 1-0 after making a career-high 18 saves against just seven goals in 49 minutes.  Brandon Moore made one save and yielded five goals over the final 12 minutes of action.

The Cardinals will continue their non-conference gauntlet at 4 p.m. on Wednesday when they welcome No. 17 Cortland Red Dragons inside Growney Stadium in the team's home-opener.