PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The No. 12 St. John Fisher men's lacrosse team suffered its first loss of the season Wednesday night, falling 17–12 to No. 10 Rochester Institute of Technology at Growney Stadium.

The Cardinals (6-1) pushed the Tigers (7-2) in the second half but dug themselves too large a hole to come back from over the first two quarters and change. RIT, which has beaten three straight top‑20 opponents, outscored Fisher 11-4 in the first half and extended its lead to 10 goals, 15-5, midway through the third quarter. 

RIT's Brayden Kuczma tallied five points on four goals and an assist. Ryan Sanders found the back of the net three times for the Tigers, while Ryan Bullock and David Charney tallied two goals apiece. Erich Achton amassed four points with three helpers and an assist. 

Senior midfielder Lane Edinger paced the Cardinals' offensive attack, piling up five points with a goal and a career-high four assists. Junior attacker Scott Bovard scored three goals and tallied an assist for four points. Three other Cardinals posted multi‑point efforts: junior midfielder Sean Donaldson (two goals and an assist), freshman midfielder Hayden Lauer (three goals) and junior attacker Garrett Sutton (one goal and one assist).

Cardinals senior goalkeeper Tyler Manning played all 60 minutes and made a season‑high 17 saves. Alex Zborowski led RIT with seven saves in just over 40 minutes, and Chase Strychaluk added five saves in nearly 20 minutes of action off the bench. 

How It Happened 

RIT jumped out to a 6–1 first‑quarter lead behind three goals from Kuczma, who scored all four of his goals in the first half. Bovard had the first two goals for Fisher, with the second one coming on a 45‑plus‑yard pass from junior defender Ethan Hodge. After RIT added a pair of goals to push its lead to nine, Edinger and senior midfielder Nick Hauman scored for Fisher late in the second quarter to make it 11–4 heading into halftime.

Bovard netted his third goal early in the third quarter, but the Tigers' offense quickly reignited, ripping off four goals in rapid succession to take their largest lead of the night at 15–5. Two of those goals came during extra‑man opportunities.

Just as it appeared the drubbing would continue, Fisher showed some pride on its home turf. The Cardinals scored six goals in the final six minutes of the third quarter — Lauer had all three of his tallies during that stretch, including two on man‑up chances — to cut their deficit to just four, 15–11. They had a handful of chances to extend their run early in the fourth, but the Tigers' defense held firm each time. Charney and Ryan Langille tacked on two more goals for RIT in the final eight minutes to secure the victory. 

Game Notes

• Jonah Vormwald went 22-for-33 on faceoffs for St. John Fisher. Fisher won the faceoff battle 22-11, but RIT was more efficient overall with more shots (46-36), shots on goal (34-16), and ground balls (46-38).

• Edinger recorded his second five-point performance of the season.

• Bovard has scored three or more goals in four of the Cardinals' first seven contests. 

• Lauer has scored three goals in each of the Cardinals' last two games. He has had three three-goal games this season. 

• Freshman defender Connor Gray led the Cardinals with four caused turnovers. 

Up Next

The Cardinals host No. 19 SUNY Cortland at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Growney Stadium.