Women's Lacrosse Hosts Geneseo In E8 Title Game Saturday

Empire 8 Semifinals: St. John Fisher 22, Nazareth 4

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. 

Game Notes

• The Cardinals have won their last 64 games against Empire 8 teams since 2018.
• The Cardinals have won 25 Empire 8 postseason games in a row. 
• The Cardinals have won 14 consecutive games against Nazareth, which hasn't won a game in the series since April 2017.
• Fisher has won nine straight E8 postseason games against Nazareth. 
• Lopata has tallied five or more points in each of the last three games. She has six goals and 14 assists in that span. 
• Biel matched her career high with five goals. She has scored that many in three contests this season.
• Carpenter surpassed 500 career draw controls with 11 in the contest. 
• Junior defender Maddie Lowney caused three turnovers to push her career total to 96, tied for the third most in program history. 
• Senior defender Ella Stewart also caused three turnovers. She now has 79 for her career, the ninth-most in Fisher history.

What's At Stake On Saturday

• The Cardinals face No. 2-seeded SUNY Geneseo in the Empire 8 Women's Lacrosse Championship Final game on Saturday afternoon at Growney Stadium. 
• The Cardinals would win their 13th consecutive E8 title and earn the conference's automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA Division III Tournament with a victory. 
• The 17-0 Cardinals enter the weekend as one of three unbeaten teams left in Division III. Middleburry and Sewanee, both 16-0, are the other two.
• Fisher and Geneseo have split their last four meetings. The Cardinals have an 11-6 edge over the Knights going back to 2006.  

Fisher Streaks

• The Cardinals have won their last 64 games in a row against Empire 8 teams since 2018.
• The Cardinals have won 25 Empire 8 postseason games in a row. 
• The Cardinals have won the E8 and reached the NCAA Tournament every year under head coach Linda Michele, who took over the Fisher program before the 2012 season (note: there was no E8 championship due to COVID-19 in 2020). 
• Fisher has had a winning record in each of the last 15 seasons (14 under Michele). This season marks the Cardinals' 10th with 15 or more wins under Michele.

Milestones Reached and Milestones Ahead 

• Michele, who has 227 career victories (23 came at Brockport in 2010-11), won her 200th game as Fisher’s head coach on April 16 against Brockport. 
• The Cardinals tied the program record for regular-season wins with 16 this season. The 2019 team, which won a program record 19 games, also had 16 victories in the regular season. 
• The Cardinals completed the program’s first unbeaten regular season (16-0 overall, 9-0 Empire 8) with a 22-3 win over Hartwick last Saturday. 
• Senior midfielder Sydney Carpenter (126 assists and counting) passed Jordan Johnson (122 assists from 2014-17) for Fisher’s all-time assists record in the win over Brockport. 
• Carpenter needs just five more points to pass Taylor Hughes (304 points from 2011-14) for the program and E8 career points records. She currently ranks second with 300. 
• Carpenter has 174 career goals, good for the fourth-most in Fisher history. 
• Carpenter holds the Fisher and E8 records in draw controls (503). She also ranks fifth in program history in caused turnovers (91) and eighth in ground balls (170). 
• Senior attacker Hanna Kumpf surpassed 100 career goals during the regular season. She's currently tied for eigth in program history with 120. 
• Senior attacker Mary Fiorentino surpassed 100 career goals during the regular season. 
• Fiorentino has 185 career points (eighth in Fisher history) and 74 assists (sixth in Fisher history). 
• Junior defender Maddie Lowney has caused 96 turnovers over the last three seasons, tied for the third most in Fisher history. Her 170 career draw controls rank sixth in Fisher’s record book. 
• Senior defender Ella Stewart has caused 79 career turnovers, the ninth most in the Cardinals’ record book. 
• Sophomore goalkeeper Kaylee Gadol ranks eighth in Fisher history in career saves with 127. 
• Senior attacker Farrah Zalla and junior midfielder Kaley Griffin surpassed 100 career points during the regular season. 
• Senior midfielder Emma Biel, who leads Fisher in goals (46), surpassed 100 career points on Thursday against Nazareth.
• The Cardinals set the program single-game goals record with 27 in a shutout victory over SUNY Poly on April 12 at Growney Stadium. 
• Sophomore Chelsea Lopata tied the program record for assists (7) in a game and matched the fourth-best mark for single-game points (9) in a 22-3 win over Hartwick to close the regular season. 
• Griffin tied the program’s second-best mark for goals in a game with seven against Brockport.

Other Numbers To Know

• The Cardinals enter the weekend with the top scoring defense in DIII (4.76 goals allowed per game). 
• The Cardinals rank second in the country in clearing percentage (90.3%) and scoring margin (+13.82). 
• The Cardinals rank third in Division III in scoring offense (18.59 goals per game) and points per game (28.53). They stand seventh in assists per game (9.94).
• Gadol stands second nationally in goals against average (4.85). 
• The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 316-81 overall and have been particularly dominant in the first quarter of games. They have outscored their opponents by 85 in the opening quarter this season.
• The Cardinals have the 10th-highest free-position percentage in the country, converting on 57.3% of their chances. 
• The Cardinals beat two teams – No. 17 William Smith and No. 32 Williams – currently ranked in the top 35 of the NCAA NPI, one of the key metrics used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee.

About Geneseo

• New to the Empire 8 this season, the Golden Knights advanced to the conference semifinals with a 13-9 victory over No. 3-seeded Brockport on Thursday. Alaina Reina led the Knights with three goals and an assist, while Maddie Brown added two goals and two assists. Dany Emler, Lila Warner and Olivia Luchetti had two goals apiece.
• Geneseo has the second-ranked scoring defense in the Empire 8, allowing 9.28 goals per game.
• Geneseo has converted on 61.5% of its free-position shots, the second-highest percentage in the country. 
• Natalie Long leads Geneseo in goals (50), while Brown paces the Knights in assists (55) and total points (92). 
• Sarah Ginnane ranks third in the E8 in caused turnovers per game (2.76). 

Last Meeting: St. John Fisher 14, Geneseo 7 (4/9/2025)

The St. John Fisher women's lacrosse team used a strong third quarter to push past Geneseo 14-7 in its toughest Empire 8 Conference test of the season on April 9 at Growney Stadium. 

The Cardinals couldn't pull away from a pesky Knights team and even found themselves trailing for the first time all season in a conference game in the first half. 

The Cardinals left the Knights behind with a dominant third quarter in which they scored five times to take a 10-5 lead. Kumpf's goal at the 8:30 mark broke a 5-5 tie, and not long after that, Carpenter extended the Cardinals' lead to 8-5 with two goals in less than a minute. Lopata scored Fisher's fifth goal of the quarter on an assist from Fiorentino with about three minutes remaining. 

Carpenter led the Cardinals in goals (4) and total points (6). 

E8 Women's Lacrosse Championship Tournament Central

2025 Empire 8 Women’s Lacrosse Championship Participants
No. 1 – St. John Fisher University (9-0 E8, 16-0 Overall)
No. 2 – SUNY Geneseo (8-1 E8, 11-6 Overall)
No. 3 – SUNY Brockport (7-2 E8, 8-8 Overall)
No. 4 – Nazareth University (6-3 E8, 10-7 Overall)
No. 5 – Hartwick College (5-4 E8, 8-7 Overall)
No. 6 – Utica University (4-5 E8, 7-8 Overall)

2025 Empire 8 Women’s Lacrosse Championship Schedule

Tuesday, April 29 – First Round
No. 3 SUNY Brockport defeated No. 6 Utica University, 16-2 – BOX SCORE
No. 4 Nazareth University defeated No. 5 Hartwick College, 15-5 – BOX SCORE

Thursday, May 1 – Semifinals (at Higher Seed)
No. 1 St. John Fisher University defeated No. 4 Nazareth, 22-4 – BOX SCORE
No. 2 SUNY Geneseo defeated No. 3 SUNY Brockport, 13-9 – BOX SCORE

Saturday, May 3 – Championship (at Highest Remaining Seed)
No. 2 SUNY Geneseo at No. 1 St. John Fisher – 3 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS

Admission

$6.00 - Adults

$4.00 - Students and seniors with ID

Free - Children under 12