PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College women's lacrosse team is headed to the Empire 8 Championship after routing Hartwick, 18-6, on Saturday morning inside Growney Stadium. With the win, ­­­Fisher improves its overall record to 9-8, while the Hawks end their season with a final record of 6-7. 

Sydney Carpenter continued her dominant first year with a seven-point performance in her first playoff game of her career, while Kathleen Salanger and Farrah Zalla both tallied five points in the contest. Lilly Goodsell earned the win (9-8) after allowing just six goals with six saves. 

The Cardinals defense was on display early as Shannon Foster forced a Hartwick turnover, allowing Salanger to maneuver her way through the defense to score the game's first goal.

The one-goal lead would not last as Hartwick would score back-to-back goals with just over seven minutes remaining in the first quarter.

Trailing by one goal, head coach Linda Michele called her first timeout and re-grouped her squad with a new strategy. After the break, the Cardinals offense exploded for three-straight goals including one from Zalla, and two from Mary Fiorentino.

From there, a Cardinals turnover allowed the Hawks to sprint down the field and put the ball in the back of the net to cut the Fisher lead to one.

Closing out the first quarter, Salanger earned herself a free position attempt with just under two minutes remaining. The senior attacker lined up the shot and put the ball past the goalie for the teams fifth goal, ending the first quarter 5-3. 

The second quarter was all Fisher as they outscored the Hawks 4-0 in the 15 minutes of play including goals from Carpenter, Cara Landry, Courtney O'Dea, and Zalla. The Cardinals entered halftime with a 9-3 edge.

Coming out of the break, Hartwick would score first before the-straight goals from the Cardinals would extend their lead to eight halfway through the third quarter. 

As the quarter wore on, both teams would swap goals to end the third quarter with Fisher leading 14-6. 

Leading by eight with 15 minutes to play, the Cardinals defense was unstoppable, forcing five-straight Hartwick turnovers to start the quarter. 

With nine minutes showing on the scoreboard, Salanger controlled the offense and found a cutting Carpenter for her 23rd goal on the year.

With a comfortable nine-point lead, Fisher would tack on three more before closing out the quarter with 18-6 and spot in the Empire 8 Championship match.

As a team, the Cardinals outshot the Hawks, 36-14, and won the draw control battle, 20-8. Fisher forced 21 Hartwick turnovers including seven failed clear attempts. 

The Cardinals are set to face off against rival Nazareth in the Conference Championship on Sunday at 12:30 inside Growney Stadium.