PITTSFORD, N.Y. – On a cloudy and wet Tuesday afternoon at Growney Stadium, the No. 12 St. John Fisher men's lacrosse team improved to 4-0 for the first time since 2022 with a 10-8 victory over Hamilton College. 

The Cardinals held a six-goal lead, 7-1, early in the second quarter but had to sweat it out down the stretch to secure the victory as the Continentals (0-2) made a 7-2 run to cut their deficit to one goal. Hamilton outscored Fisher 5-2 in the second half. 

Senior midfielder Lane Edinger and freshman midfielder Hayden Lauer scored two goals apiece for the Cardinals, who had nine different players record at least one point. Junior midfielder Robbie Salit had a team-high three points on a goal and two assists, while fellow junior midfielder Sean Donaldson and junior attackmen Scott Bovard and Garrett Sutton each scored and tallied an assist for two points. 

Senior All-American goalkeeper Tyler Manning had another stout game in net, recording 13 saves with a save percentage of .619. 

Maddux Little and Carson Kraus scored twice for the Continentals. Finn Vaccaro totaled three points on a goal and a pair of assists. 

How It Happened 

Following a 1-1 start in the first two minutes and change, Fisher caught fire, scoring four consecutive goals to close the opening quarter with a 5-1 lead. Sophomore Logan Welch started that scoring run and was followed by Sutton, Donaldson and senior midfielder Nick Hauman. 

Bovard and Edinger scored early in the second quarter to extend the Cardinals' lead to 7-1 before Vaccaro got Hamilton back on the board at the 10:24 mark. Little found the back of the net to trim Hamilton's deficit to four, 7-3, with 4:30 left in the half, but the Cardinals appeared to take momentum back when Edinger beat a defender and snapped off a shot that snuck past goalkeeper Jack Williams with three seconds remaining.

Hamilton outscored the Cardinals 3-1 in the third quarter to pull within three, 9-6. Ryan Olivo opened the scoring in the frame, and after Lauer netted a man-up goal to briefly put Fisher ahead 9-4, Kraus and Wyatt Estep scored less than a minute apart to make it a three-goal game. 

Hamilton continued its momentum in the final quarter, cutting the score to 9-7 on Little's second tally of the afternoon at the 13:38 mark. It took nearly nine minutes for another goal to be scored as the defenses tighted. Manning during that stretch stoned a pair of prime Hamilton chances to keep the Cardinals' two-goal lead intact. 

Hamilton, which kept the pressure on the Cardinals' defense all quarter, finally pulled within one with 4:28 left when Kraus scored his second goal of the game on a feed from Mark Coyle. 

In need of a key play or two to secure the victory, the Cardinals added some breathing room with about two minutes left. After a Hamilton turnover, Lauer buried his second goal of the half to give Fisher a 10-8 lead that would hold. 

Game Notes

• Fisher is off to their first 4-0 start since it started 5-0 in 2022. 

• Hamilton outshot Fisher 48-37, with 21 shots on goal; however, goalkeeper Tyler Manning had yet another standout performance, making 13 saves.

• Eight different Cardinals scored a goal. 

• Edinger has scored two goals in each of the last two games. 

• Freshman defender Jake Verneri caused two turnovers and picked up three ground balls. 

• Freshman Jonah Vormwald led the Cardinals with six face-off wins on 10 attempts. 

Up Next

The Cardinals face Rhodes College at noon on Saturday in Memphis, Tenn.