MEN'S LACROSSE DROPS 12-7 DECISION TO SAINT JOHN FISHER

CLEARWATER, Fla. – The Saint John Fisher men's lacrosse team scored six unanswered goals to break a 2-2 tie en route to a 12-7 victory over Emmanuel College on Tuesday afternoon at Phillip Jones Field. The Cardinals open its 2017 campaign with a 1-0 record while the loss drops the Saints to 1-2 overall.

EC jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a goal by sophomore William Barrs (Waterford, Conn.) with the assist coming from Sam Ward (Hampstead, N.H.) 2:30 into the action. Minutes later Saint John Fisher tied the score at 1-1 on an unassisted marker by junior attack Andrew Rosso (Kirkville, N.Y.) and then took a 2-1 lead with 7:56 to play in the first on a goal by senior Dante Giordano (Hilton, N.Y.). Emmanuel evened the score at 2-2 before the end of the quarter on an unassisted marker by senior attack Tony Cibelli (Westboro, Mass.) to cap the quarter's action.

The Cardinals controlled the second quarter outscoring the Saints 4-0 to take a 6-2 lead into halftime. Sophomore Zach Wagner (Elbridge, N.Y.) scored back-to-back goals to start the quarter before graduate student Drew Brown (Syracuse, N.Y.) made it 5-2 on a man-up tally with 5:26 to play in the half. TJ VanDeusen (East Syracuse, N.Y.) added the final goal in the frame to account for the 6-2 score heading into the break.

SJF owned a 20-10 shots advantage at the half.

The Cardinals extended the lead to 8-2 scoring two goals in the first two minutes of the third quarter to build the lead to six before EC senior Donnie Litzelman (Stratham, N.H.) found the back of the net with 12:06 to play in the third to cut the lead to 8-3. VanDeusen and Rosso responded with their second goals of the afternoon to make it 10-3 which would hold entering the final quarter.

In the fourth, the Saints outscored SJF 4-2 on goals by Cibelli, Ward and the final two scores by Liztelman including his third of the game with just one second remaining to account for the 12-7 final.

SJF senior goalie Tanner Swan (Ridgewood, N.J.) made six saves earning the win while EC keeper Austin Rosenberg (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) made 13 saves in defeat.

Both squads return to action on Thursday, March 9. The Saints take on Clark University at 7:00 PM while the Cardinals face DeSales University at 12:00 PM in more spring break men's lacrosse action in Clearwater, Fla.