PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The No. 2-seeded St. John Fisher University men's lacrosse team outscored No. 3-seeded SUNY Geneseo 16-3 after falling behind by four goals in the first quarter en route to an 18-9 victory in the Empire 8 Conference Championship Semifinals on Thursday evening at Growney Stadium.
The Cardinals (16-2) advanced to the Empire 8 Championship game for the eighth season in a row with the victory. They will face top-seeded Nazareth (12-6), which beat No. 5-seeded Utica 22-6 in its semifinal game, at 1 p.m. on Saturday at NLPA Field.
Junior attackman Garrett Sutton powered the Cardinals on the offensive end with a career-high seven total points, six of them coming on goals. Senior midfielder Lane Edinger scored five goals, while junior midfielder Sean Donaldson tallied four total points on three goals and an assist. Four Cardinals chipped in two points apiece, including senior midfielders Nick Hauman (one goal, one assist) and Brett Seaman (one goal, one assist), junior midfielder Robbie Salit (two goals) and junior attackman Scott Bovard (two assists).
St. John Fisher senior goalkeeper Tyler Manning finished with nine saves. The Cardinals' defense had a spectacular second half, holding the Knights to just one goal.
How It Happened
The Knights came out clicking offensively, jumping out to a 6-2 lead over the first nine minutes. Geneseo got goals from six different players during that stretch, including Ryan Trebing, Owen Ellick, Josh Knapp, Ronnie Trebing, Max Esposito and Askel Stantat.
Fisher began grinding its way back over the final five-plus minutes of the opening quarter on two goals from Salit and one from Sutton to Geneseo's lead to 6-5. Hauman tied the game at the 9:43 mark of the second quarter with a strike off an assist from Seaman, and Sutton gave the Cardinals their first lead of the day less than a minute later, burying a feed from Bovard.
The teams combined for three more goals over the final eight minutes of the high-scoring first half, with Ian Leahey scoring for Geneseo to make it 7-7 before St. John Fisher went back in front on an unassisted tally from Donaldson. The Knights pulled even again in the final minute of the half on Jacob Pensabene's unassisted goal.
The game's decisive run began early in the third quarter with Sutton's fourth goal of the day, which gave the Cardinals the lead for good. Edinger scored twice, while Sutton added another goal and Donaldson recorded his second of the day as Fisher stretched its lead to 13-8 by the end of the third. Geneseo managed just two shots on goal and committed four turnovers in the frame.
Fisher's stretch of unanswered goals reached six on Edinger's fourth goal of the game early in the fourth quarter. Stanat scored Geneseo's lone goal of the second half about three minutes later to pull Geneseo within five, 14-9, but the Cardinals put the game away with a 4-0 burst that included goals from Sutton, Seaman, Donaldson and Edinger.
Game Notes
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Sutton's six goals marked a career high and matched the second-most scored by a Cardinal in an Empire 8 Tournament game.
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Edinger matched his career high with his five goals.
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The Cardinals went 22-of-30 on faceoffs. Freshman Jonah Vormwald finished 20-of-28 with a game-high 16 ground balls.
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Junior defender Ethan Hodge led the Cardinals with two caused turnovers. He also had two ground balls.
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The Cardinals improved to 13-0 in E8 Tournament games since 2019 and 14-1 overall under head coach Dave Dobbins.
Up Next
The Cardinals will face rival Nazareth in the conference championship game on Saturday. The Golden Flyers handed the Cardinals their only regular-season loss in E8 play with a 12-7 victory at NLPA Field on April 18.
