UTICA N.Y. – The nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College men's lacrosse team defeated Utica College, 29-3, in an Empire 8 matchup Saturday afternoon, inside Gaetano Stadium. With the win, Fisher, which is ranked 5th in the latest United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association national poll, improves to 10-2 overall, and 3-0 in the conference, while Utica falls to 6-6 on the season, and 2-1 in the Empire 8.
Coming off a 31-goal outing over Keuka on Wednesday, Fisher's offense continued to prove why it is one of the best in the nation, as 18 different Cardinals found the back of the net during the win.
Nicholas Miller led the offense with five goals and two assists, while
Brennan O'Brien scored four and assisted on one.
Ian Evans and
Jack Mulvihill each finished with four points as the pair scored and assisted on two goals. Goalie
Ben Hammond earned his 10th win of the year (10-2) as he saved two goals.
Jack Gullo replaced Hammond in net and tallied three saves, while
Hunter Gentry played the fourth quarter and notched six saves.
The Cardinals offense started off right where it let off as just five minutes into the first quarter the Cardinals scored four goals.
From there, the Pioneers would get on the board with a man-down goal to cut the Cardinal lead to three.
Not fazed by the goal, Fisher's
Joe Post would win one of his 14 faceoffs to give
Ian Evans his second goal of the game.
With 5:30 remaining in the quarter, head coach David Dobbins' squad would score four more times to take a 9-1 lead after 15 minutes of action.
The momentum carried over into quarter two, as Fisher outscored the Pioneers 11-1 in the quarter as Miller scored four before the half.
The last 30 minutes was all Fisher as they finished the match on a 7-0 run to win 29-3.
With a comfortable second half lead, Dobbins was able to get his younger guys some playing time.
"It was awesome to see our young guys come in and play to the standard of Cardinal lacrosse." Stated Dobbins after the win.
The Cardinals will be back in action at 4 p.m. on Wednesday as they host Alfred in an Empire 8 matchup at Growney Stadium.
