SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The No. 23 St. John Fisher women's lacrosse team outscored Skidmore 8-4 over the third and fourth quarters en route to an 11-6 victory on Friday afternoon at Wachenheim Field. 

The Cardinals improved to 4-3 overall with the victory, their second in a row, while Skidmore dropped to 4-6. 

St. John Fisher senior defender Maddie Lowney produced a superb stat line with seven draw controls, five caused turnovers, four ground all recoveries and a goal, her first since a 17-8 win over Endicott in the 2024 NCAA Division III Tournament. Lowney now has 130 career caused turnovers and needs only six more to pass Laurie Quackenbush (135 from 2005-08) for the most in program history. 

Junior attacker Ellie Leisen led the Cardinals offensively, recording a game-high four points on two goals and two assists. Senior midfielder Kaley Griffin, junior attacker Chelsea Lopata and sophomore midfielder Athena Lazina each scored twice. Lopata surpassed 100 points for her career. 

Fisher junior goalkeeper Maggie Cross played the full 60 minutes and made eight saves. 

How It Happened

Both defenses proved tough to crack in a first half that featured just five goals. Lazina opened the scoring about five minutes in on a feed from Leisen, and the score remained 1-0 until Skidmore's Olivia Emerson tied the game with 2:39 left in the first quarter. Senior attacker Megan McGrath put the Cardinals back in front 26 seconds later, finding the back of the net after receiving a pass from Lesien. 

The second quarter appeared destined to end scoreless until the teams traded goals in the final 60 seconds. The Thoroughbreds pulled even on a free-position goal from Julia Cafasso with 44 seconds left, and Griffin put Fisher back in front, 3-2, with just seven seconds remaining with an unassisted tally. 

The Cardinals gave themselves some breathing room in the third quarter, outscoring the Thoroughbreds 3-1 to push their lead to 6-3. Lopata, Leisen and senior attacker Dharma Makarowsky accounted for the Cardinals' goals in the frame. 

Lily Hudner cut Skidmore's deficit to two early in the fourth quarter, but the Cardinals soon sparked a four-goal run to put the game out of reach. Lazina, Lowney, Leisen and Lopata scored in a span of six minutes as Fisher's lead ballooned to 10-4. 

Griffin, after Skidmore scored twice to make the score 10-6, put the finishing touches on the victory with her second goal of the game with 1:38 left. 

Game Notes

• Lowney is averaging 3.8 caused turnovers per game. She has recorded three or more in each of the Cardinals' seven contests. 

• Leisen has amassed four points or more three times this season. 

• Senior defender/midfielder Paige Miller and sophomore defender Jess Andrews each caused a pair of turnovers. Andrews also picked up four ground balls. 

Up Next

The Cardinals begin Empire 8 Conference play against Russell Sage at noon on Saturday. The game will be played at Union College.