PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The No. 18 St. John Fisher men's lacrosse team used stifling defense and a scoring run that began in the first half and carried into the second to take down No. 11 St. Lawrence 12-8 on Saturday afternoon at Growney Stadium. 

The Cardinals improved to 3-0 on the season with the win, while the Saints, who beat No. 8 Cortland on Wednesday, took their first loss of the year, dropping to 2-1. The victory marked Fisher's first regular-season win over a ranked team since its 14-12 win over No. 20 Ursinus in March 2022. 

St. John Fisher senior goalkeeper Tyler Manning made 12 saves, some of them on point-blank shots, as part of a fantastic performance between the pipes. The Cardinals forced the Saints into 26 turnovers and went 28-of-29 on clearing attempts. St. Lawrence finished the afternoon 21-of-28 on clears, with four of its seven failed attempts coming in the third quarter.

Senior midfielder Lane Edinger led the Cardinals offensively with four points on two goals and two assists. Junior midfielder Sean Donaldson scored twice and had an assist for three points, while freshman midfielder Hayden Lauer had three points on two assists and a goal. 

Senior midfielder Nick Hauman and senior attacker Scott Bovard each scored twice. Junior midfielder Robbie Salit recorded two points with a goal and a helper. 

Henry Crean and Patrick Murray each scored three goals to the leads the Saints. Daniel Mahoney had a goal and an assist for two total points. 

How It Happened

The Cardinals swung momentum with three goals in the final five minutes of the first half after trailing 3-2 for most of the second quarter. Bovard struck on an assist from sophomore attacker Logan Welch tie the game at the 4:39 mark, and Edinger followed about a minute later with an unassisted tally to give Fisher a 4-3 lead. With two minutes left in the half, Bovard added his second goal of the day on an assist from Donaldson to make it 5-3. 

Hauman and junior attacker Garrett Sutton extended the Cardinals' string of unanswered goals to five early in the third quarter. Salit had the assist on the first one, while Edinger dished out the helper on the second. 

The Saints' scoreless stretch ended about midway through the quarter on Murray's second goal of the afternoon, but the Cardinals pushed their lead to four goals again a short time later on a man-up strike from Lauer, who was assisted by Edinger. Hauman and freshman attacker Grady Swidersky scored in the final two minutes of the third to make it 10-5 after Crean briefly trimmed St. Lawrence's deficit back to three with an unassisted goal. 

The teams traded goals in the fourth, with Salit and Donaldson scoring for the Cardinals, who never let St. Lawrence pull within fewer than four in the quarter. Crean scored two of the Saints' three goals in that frame. 

Game Notes

• The Cardinals improved to 3-4 all-time against the Saints with the victory. 

• Freshman defender Connor Gray caused a game-high three turnovers. Junior defender Ethan Hodge, sophomore defender Garrin Dougherty and freshman defender Drew Turk each caused a pair of turnovers. 

• Manning matched his career high with six ground balls. 

• Sutton and senior face-off specialist Bryce Riffel each recovered five ground balls. 

• Riffel finished 11-of-16 on face-offs. 

• Bovard has scored two or more goals in each of the Cardinals' first three games.

Up Next

The Cardinals face Hamilton College at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Growney Stadium.