PITTSFORD, N.Y. – Four players had five-point performances, and Sydney Carpenter moved closer to another historic milestone as the No. 1-seeded St. John Fisher women's lacrosse team throttled No. 4-seeded Nazareth 22-4 in the Empire 8 Conference Semifinals on Thursday evening at Growney Stadium.
The Cardinals (17-0), chasing their 13th consecutive Empire 8 title, will host No. 2-seeded SUNY Geneseo in the conference final game at 3 p.m. on Saturday. The Knights beat No. 3-seeded SUNY Brockport 13-9 to punch their ticket to the championship on Thursday afternoon.
Nazareth finished its season 11-8 overall.
Junior Kaley Griffin and senior Emma Biel, who surpassed 100 points for her career, scored five goals apiece. Senior Hanna Kumpf and sophomore Chelsea Lopata amassed their five points on two goals and three assists.
Carpenter, who recently became Fisher's all-time assists leader, scored twice to reach 300 points for her career. She needs five more to pass Taylor Hughes (304 points from 2011-14) for the Fisher and Empire 8 records.
How It Happened
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The Cardinals jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first six minutes behind goals from Griffin, Lopata, Biel, Carpenter and Mary Fiorentino. After Nazareth got on the board for the first time, Lopata scored her second goal of the evening to give Fisher a 6-1 lead with 7:33 left in the first quarter.
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Nazareth scored twice before the end of the first to cut Fisher's lead to 6-3, but the Cardinals blitzed the Golden Flyers with nine unanswered goals in the second quarter to take control. Biel accounted for four of those tallies, while Griffin scored twice. Fiorentino, Carpenter and senior Farrah Zalla found the back of the net once apiece.
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Carpenter's goal, the second for Fisher in the quarter, was arguably the Cardinals' most dazzling individual play of the season. With a defender charging at her, she fired a no-look, behind-the-back shot past Nazareth goalkeeper Allie Klestinec to put the Cardinals ahead 8-3.
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The Cardinals piled on seven unanswered goals after the Golden Flyers scored their fourth of the contest early in the second half. Griffin, Kumpf and junior Dharma Makarowsky scored twice, and Zalla added her second goal of the game.
Game Notes
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The Cardinals have won their last 64 games against Empire 8 teams since 2018.
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The Cardinals have won 25 Empire 8 postseason games in a row.
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The Cardinals have won 14 consecutive games against Nazareth, which hasn't won a game in the series since April 2017.
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Fisher has won nine straight E8 postseason games against Nazareth.
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Lopata has tallied five or more points in each of the last three games. She has six goals and 14 assists in that span.
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Biel matched her career high with five goals. She has scored that many in three contests this season.
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Carpenter surpassed 500 career draw controls with 11 in the contest.
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Junior defender Maddie Lowney caused three turnovers to push her career total to 96, tied for the third most in program history.
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Senior defender Ella Stewart also caused three turnovers. She now has 79 for her career, the ninth-most in Fisher history.
Up Next
The Cardinals face SUNY Geneseo in the E8 title game at 3 p.m. on Saturday. They beat the Knights 14-7 in the regular-season meeting between the teams.
