PITTSFORD, N.Y. – For the second time this season, the nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College men's lacrosse team played host to a top-five matchup as the Cardinals battled the No. 4 Union College Dutchmen to the end before falling, 13-12, in front of a packed Growney Stadium.  With the defeat, the Cardinals, who are ranked fifth in the latest United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association poll, slipped to 8-2 while the Dutchmen remained perfect at 10-0.

With the score deadlocked at 9-9 following the first three quarters of play, Fisher looked to push the pace as the fourth period got underway with Jack Mulvihill and Tyler Edinger each putting a shot on goal, but Union would strike first as the Dutchmen found the back of the net with nearly five minutes having ticked by.

Trailing by a goal, Fisher took advantage of an offside penalty against Union as Mulvihill fed Jordan Depetres for a man-up goal that knotted things up at 10 goals aside.

From there, both teams settled in with Union eventually breaking the tie with a goal at the 4:53 mark only to see Fisher counter with a goal on the other end as Ian Evans found a seam for Depetres who buried it into the back of the net to level the game at 11-11.

With under three minutes remaining in regulation, Union seized control as the visitors rattled off two goals in a span of 56 seconds to grab momentum and a two-goal lead.

Holding a 13-11 advantage with time ticking down, Union would win the ensuing faceoff, but Kyle Rochester forced a turnover on the sideline as Fisher cleared the ball out of its zone.

With 20 seconds still showing on the clock and the home team holding the ball, head coach Dave Dobbins called a timeout to regroup.  Coming out of the break, the ball found its way to Evans as the attackman dodged his way through the Union defense and dumped it off into the side of the net to pull Fisher to within one.

Trailing by one score with 19 seconds still showing, Matthew Kemmis secured a ground ball off the faceoff with Fisher taking another timeout to draw up a final play.  From there, the whistle sounded with Evans dodging before finding Nicholas Miller whose attempt to tie the game sailed just wide as the final horn blew.

Evans provided a spark on the offensive end of the field with two goals and a pair of assists to go along with four ground balls while Miller finished with two goals of his own and two dimes paired with six ground balls and three caused turnovers.  Mulvihill scored twice and handed out two assists while Depetres finished with a hat trick on nine shots.  Tucker O'Donnell, Jacob Gallina and Logan Grom each found the back of the net once.

Joe Post was 12-for-24 in faceoffs and had 10 ground balls while Grom was 2-for-4 and picked up one ground ball.

In goal, Ben Hammond moved to 8-2 after allowing 13 goals over 60 minutes.  The Manlius native posted his eighth game this season with double-digit saves after making 14 stops.  The sophomore also had three ground balls.

Fisher will enjoy a week off before returning to Empire 8 play at 4 p.m. on Wednesday when it welcomes Keuka College to Growney Stadium.