PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The No. 11 St. John Fisher men's lacrosse team scored four fourth-quarter goals to rally past SUNY Geneseo 12-10 on Wednesday afternoon at Growney Stadium in perhaps its stiffest Empire 8 Conference test of the regular season. 

The Cardinals, who've won five consecutive games, moved to 11-1 overall and 4-0 in conference play with the victory, while Geneseo fell to 7-4 overall and 3-1 in the E8. Including regular-season and playoffs, the Cardinals have won 50 consecutive games against Empire 8 teams since the end of the 2019 season. 

Junior attackman Scott Bovard and freshman attackman Grady Swidersky powered the Cardinals offensively with four points each. Bovard had two goals and two assists, and Swideresky had a goal and three helpers. 

Junior midfielder Sean Donaldson buried three goals, marking his third straight game with that many. Senior midfielder Nick Hauman scored twice, while freshman midfielder Hayden Lauer recorded two points with a goal and an assist. 

Senior goalkeeper Tyler Manning played the full 60 minutes and made 11 saves, his most since stopping 12 shots last month in a victory over SUNY Cortland. 

The Knights were led by Ian Leahey, who scored a game-high five goals. Owen Ellick added a pair. 

How It Happened

Donaldson and Bovard scored on assists from Swidersky in the first three minutes of the first quarter, but Geneseo settled in and pulled even a short time later. Askel Stanat made it 2-1 with an unassisted goal, and Owen Ellick scored on a feed from Max Esposito around the eight-minute mark to tie the game. Donaldson scored his second goal of the game with three minutes left in the quarter on an assist from Bovard to put the Cardinals back in front.

Hauman pushed the lead to 4-2 midway through the second on Swidersky's third assist, and Graham Kesselring added an unassisted tally a few minutes later to make it 5-2.

Leahey pulled Geneseo within two with 3:11 left before the halftime break, igniting a 5-0 run that put Fisher's Empire 8 winning streak in jeopardy in the second half. Leahey scored twice, while Ellick and Ryan Trebing added goals as the Knights surged ahead 7-5 in the third.

Bovard and Swidersky answered less than a minute apart to tie it, but Leahey's fourth put Geneseo back on top and sparked a frenetic finish to the quarter. Logan Welch tied it again with 37 seconds left, only for Ronnie Trebing to score right after the ensuing faceoff to give the Knights a 9-8 lead. 

Donaldson ripped his third goal into the back of the net less than two minutes into the fourth quarter, tying the game at nine. Leahey scored his fifth at the 11:09 mark to give the Knights a 10-9 lead, which proved to be their last of the afternoon. 

Lauer pulled Fisher even at the 10:10 mark, Hauman made it 11-10 three minutes later on a setup from sophomore attacker Tyson DeLisio and junior attacker Garrett Sutton capped the decisive three-goal run at the 6:55 mark. The Cardinals' defense held strong the rest of the way to lock down the victory. 

Game Notes

• Donaldson has scored two or more goals in all but two of the Cardinals' 12 games this season. 

• Donaldson has scored 23 goals over the Cardinals' last eight games. 

• Swidersky has dished out three assists in each of the Cardinals' last four games. He leads the team with 20 on the year. 

• Freshman defender Jake Vernieri caused a team-high three turnovers and picked up two ground balls. 

• Freshman Jonah Vormwald went 14-of-21 on faceoffs and picked up a game-high 11 ground balls. 

• The Cardinals went 22-of-24 on clearing attempts. 

• The Cardinals improved to 11-1 for the first time since 2019 with the win. 

Up Next

The Cardinals face SUNY Poly at noon on Saturday at Growney Stadium. They will honor their seniors before the game.