Men's Lacrosse Set For NCAA Tournament Across Town

Men's Lacrosse | 5/9/2025 1:33:00 PM

PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher men's lacrosse team will not be playing at home in the NCAA Division III Tournament this weekend, but they will not be very far away.

The Cardinals (15-4), who beat Nazareth 21-10 on Saturday in the Empire 8 Championship game to punch their ticket to the tournament, face Ohio Wesleyan (15-3) across town at the Rochester Institute of Technology's Tiger Stadium at 3 p.m. on Saturday. The host Tigers (18-1) play Ohio Northern (16-4) in the first game of the day at noon.

The winners will face each other in the third-round contest at 3 p.m. on Sunday.

Tickets

Tickets can be purchased at the gate and are $5.00 for adults and $3 for children.

How They Got Here

St. John Fisher: The No. 1-seeded Cardinals beat No. 2-seeded Nazareth 21-10 in the Empire 8 title game last Saturday to earn the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

The Cardinals, winners of the last six E8 championships, have beaten Nazareth, their East Avenue rivals, in five consecutive conference title games.

The Cardinals improved to 5-1 in conference championship games and 6-2 overall in postseason contests against Nazareth.
Fisher outscored its opponents – Hartwick and Nazareth – 51-16 in two E8 tournament games.

Ohio Wesleyan: The Battling Bishops beat Oberlin 11-10 and No. 19 Denison 13-10 to win the North Coast Athletic Conference.

Ohio Wesleyan will be making its 30th overall NCAA Division Tournament appearance and first since 2018. The Battling Bishops have played in the DIII National Championship game four times.

Series History

The Cardinals opened the 2012 season with a 10-5 loss to the Battling Bishops in Delaware, Ohio. Saturday's contest will mark the second meeting between the programs.

St. John Fisher NCAA Tournament History

Previous Appearances: 5

Streak: 6 straight appearances

Tournament Record: 5-5

Best Run: Last year, the Cardinals took down Wesleyan and St. Lawrence on their way to the NCAA quarterfinals, where they fell to eventual national champion Tufts.

All-Empire 8 Honors Released

The Cardinals claimed four major awards and landed a conference-high 12 players on the All-Empire 8 teams. The Empire 8 named senior Jack Cornell Defensive Player of the Year, junior Tyler Manning Goalkeeper of the Year and freshman attacker JP Revitte Rookie of the Year. The Cardinals' coaching staff, led by Dave Dobbins, won Coaching Staff of the Year.
Fisher led the league with eight first-team selections, including Cornell, Manning, junior attacker Brady Mason, fifth-year attacker Timmy Salit, senior midfielder Braeden McNeill, graduate senior midfielder Jordan Leuze, senior defender Zach Stirpe and senior defender Connor Mesh.
Sophomore midfielder Sean Donaldson earned second-team All-Empire 8 honors. Senior attacker Ethan Kesselring, graduate senior defender Joe Urlacher and junior faceoff specialist Bryce Riffel garnered third-team recognition.
The first two-time Defensive Player of the Year in Empire 8 history, Cornell leads a St. John Fisher defense that allowed just 47 goals in nine regular-season conference games in 2025. He leads the league with 35 caused turnovers to go along with 74 ground balls entering the NCAA Tournament.
Manning, the third player in Fisher history to be named Empire 8 Goalkeeper of the Year, enters the NCAA Tournament 15-3 on the season with a 7.93 goals against average and a .582 save percentage for the Cardinals in 2025. He recorded a minuscule 4.42 goals against average and recorded a .682 save percentage in league play. Manning had seven games with at least 10 saves, including a career-best 19 against Colorado College on March 8.
Revitte, who's played in 15 games (10 starts) this season, has amassed 30 points on 17 goals and 13 assists. He had six points (four goals, two assists) in two Empire 8 Championship Tournament games.
Dobbins and his staff, which includes assistant coaches Cash Lawson, Jeff Schwartz, Mark Rice, Dugan Doeblin, Joe Post, Ty McHerron and Duffy McKenna, led the Cardinals to a sixth consecutive Empire 8 title this season. Dobbins and his staff have been named E8 Coaching Staff of the Year four times.

St. John Fisher Notes

One win away from 100 for his career, Dobbins has led the Cardinals to a .500 record or better in each of his eight seasons as head coach. The Cardinals have won 46 straight games against Empire 8 teams.
Fisher (15-4) needs just two more wins to match the 2019 team for the most single-season wins in program history.
The Cardinals have scored 30 or more goals in three games this season, including a program record 32 against SUNY Poly on April 12.
Salit (117 career assists) recently tied Dave Malone (117 career assists from 2007-10) for second on the program's all-time assists list. Salit ranks fourth all-time in total points (207).
Salit's 46 assists this season rank second on Fisher's single-season assists list.
Mason needs just one more point to become the fifth player in program history to reach 200 for his career.
Mason stands fifth in program history in points (199) and sixth in goals (133). His 54 goals and 78 points this season rank fifth on Fisher's single-season records list.
Mason has scored four or more goals in seven contests this season.
Manning ranks 10th in the country in goals against average (7.93) and 25th in save percentage (58.2%).
Riffel has the 24th-highest face-off winning percentage in Division III (65.6%).
The Cardinals are third in the country in clearing percentage (91.2%), sixth in scoring margin (+9.63), seventh in scoring offense (17.84 goals per game), eighth in assists (202 total) and 17th in scoring defense (8.21 goals allowed per game).