PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The No. 9 St. John Fisher men's lacrosse team's winning streak against Empire 8 Conference opponents came to an end at 52 games with a 12-7 loss to East Avenue rival Nazareth on Saturday afternoon at NLPA Field.  

The Cardinals dropped to 13-2 overall (6-1 Empire 8), while the Golden Flyers moved to 9-6 overall (7-0 Empire 8) and supplanted Fisher for first place in the conference standings with two regular-season contests remaining. The Cardinals entered the game having beaten the Golden Flyers 14 times in a row, a run that began after a 22-4 loss at Nazareth in 2016. 

Fisher hadn't lost to a conference opponent since April 20, 2019, against Stevens, now a member of the Middle Atlantic Conference. Its last loss against a current Empire 8 member came to Hartwick on March 24, 2018. 

Kyle Rosenberger amassed a game-high five points on three goals and two assists, while Matthew Farrington tallied four points with two goals and two assists. William O'Neill (three goals) and Joey Hathorn (two assists) also chipped in multiple points. 

The Cardinals struggled to find a rhythm offensively all day, as their seven goals marked a season low. They managed to score two goals in a row just once. 

Senior midfielder Lane Edinger led Fisher with three points on two goals and an assist. Eight other players tallied a point apiece. 

Fisher also had an uncharacteristically difficult time at the face-off X, winning just eight of the game's 23 draws. Nazareth's Cole Doldo finished 15-of-23. 

How It Happened

Nazareth scored the game's first five goals, with two coming from O'Neill, to put Fisher in a precarious spot early. Sophomore attacker Logan Welch got the Cardinals on the board early in the second quarter, and after Nazareth's Kyle Rosenberger scored a man-up goal at the 4:19 mark, junior attacker Scott Bovard found the back of the net to cut Fisher's deficit to four before halftime. 

After Nazareth went ahead by five, 7-2, midway through the third quarter on a William Meagher goal, the Cardinals went on a 3-1 run with tallies from juniors Sean Donaldson, Garrett Sutton and Robbie Salit to make it a three-goal game at 8-5. However, Nazareth met that surge with a 3-1 push of its own to push its lead back to five, 11-6, with 4:13 left in the fourth quarter. 

Edinger scored both of his goals in the final frame. 

Game Notes

• Junior defender Ethan Hodge recovered a career-high six ground balls and matched his career high with four caused turnovers.

• Senior goalkeeper Tyler Manning finished with 15 saves. 

Up Next

The Cardinals will look to get back on track against Keuka at 4 p.m. on Wednesday at Growney Stadium.