Team collects record victory

After an 18-5 loss to nationally ranked RIT four days earlier, the men’s lacrosse team was in dire need of a win to regain some confidence.  Breaking the program’s record for wins would certainly help, right?
Not if you are head coach John Johnson, who had the team right back on the field for practice, despite a 6-5 victory over Medaille College at Growney Stadium on April 12. 
Senior All-American P.J. Burns admitted that the Cardinals did not play at their highest level.
“We didn’t work hard enough in the game and didn’t play up to our potential,” Burns said.
Johnson saw what surely others who were in attendance did; the Cardinals were not sharp.
The passing was not crisp, and on at least a couple occasions, certain players were trying to make long rushes down the field on their own, instead of trying to find the open man.
For a spectator who picked up the game notes and saw that Medaille came in with a 5-1 record, they may have thought the Mavericks just proved to be a tough opponent for the Cardinals to find their rhythm against offensively.  Junior Matt Hargather, who had two goals on the day, said that was not the case.
“They haven’t really played strong teams to this point, and we should have played a lot better,” Hargather said.
Senior Chris Weaver had three goals, including a crucial goal as time expired to tie the game at five going to the fourth quarter.  Junior Michael-Paul Solomon set it up from behind the net.
“It was a perfect pass by Mike,” Weaver said.  “We tried to set up a play [with nine seconds left], but we were just kind of running around and I found some space.”
Hargather scored the lone goal in the fourth with about four minutes remaining off a great pass from senior John Del Donne.
The Cardinals made the Hargather goal stand up, thanks in part to a couple of important saves from junior Brian Cummings in the final minutes.  He had nine total stops in the game.
The Cardinals are still happy with the victory - their seventh of the season - which sets a new record for wins in the program’s short history.
Weaver reflected on the meaning of the win.
“This is only my second year here, but it is great to come in when the program is starting to really take shape,” Weaver said.
Three days later, on Saturday, April 15, the Cardinals lost a  heartbreaker at Elmira, 10-6.
Fisher faltered in the crucial contest, despite three more goals from Hargather, who now leads the Empire 8 with 37.  Del Donne, junior Chris Shifflet and senior Sean Roache also added goals for the Cardinals.
The Elmira Golden Eagles had been 0-4 in the Empire 8 going into the match up, and the Cardinals took a giant step backward in their quest to make the Empire 8 tournament.
Fisher sits at 7-5 overall, and 2-3 in their conference, with two conference games remaining against fourth place Utica and powerhouse Nazareth.
The team may very well have to win both of those games to advance to the first postseason tournament in the program’s history.  

STAFF WRITER
ALLON FRANKLAND
adf3772@sjfc.edu