Imperfect: Nazareth Snaps Fisher's Skein
from press release
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Senior Mark DeCirce scored a game-high
four goals, including the game-winning goal in the third quarter,
to lead host Nazareth to a 14-10 victory over St. John Fisher in a
men's Empire 8 Conference lacrosse game. The 14 goals that the
Golden Flyers' offense produced are the most that the Cardinals
have allowed in a game this season.
Wednesday's game featured a matchup between nationally ranked teams
as St. John Fisher and Nazareth entered the game ranked 10th and
11th, respectively, in Division III. With the victory, the Golden
Flyers improve to 11-2 overall, and Nazareth remains unbeaten in
conference games with a 6-0 record. The Golden Flyers, meanwhile,
hand St. John Fisher its first loss of the season. The Cardinals
drop to 12-1 overall and 4-1 in Empire 8 contests. The victory also
puts Nazareth on the inside track for the top seed in the upcoming
Empire 8 Tournament, which will be played May 7th and 9th.
The game featured a wild first half in which each team tallied
eight goals. Fisher's Kyle Denhoff put the Cardinals on the board
first 2:24 into the first quarter. The Golden Flyers answered with
back-to-back goals separated by just 1:06. Senior Kurt Detwiler
scored Nazareth's first goal 4:54 into the period after receiving a
pass from junior Joe Jacobs-Ferderbar. Detwiler's goal was followed
by DeCirce's first goal of the game, which was unassisted.
After Fisher's Jeff Price found the back of the Nazareth net,
junior Kyle McLean answered to reclaim Nazareth's one-goal lead,
3-2, midway through the quarter. Sophomore C.J. Estes was credited
with an assist on McLean's goal as he found McLean with a
well-timed pass.
The Cardinals tallied the next three goals, spanning 3:36, to take
a 5-3 lead with 2:47 left in the opening quarter. Jacobs-Ferderbar
cut the Golden Flyers' deficit to one goal in the final seconds of
the quarter with an outstanding individual effort as he somehow got
a shot past the Cardinals' goalie, Jon Cortina, after working to
dodge around the Fisher defender.
After receiving a pass from Estes, sophomore John McDonnell tied
the game 2:27 into the second quarter. The tie was short lived
though as the Cardinals struck again for three straight goals to
take an 8-5 lead with 7:33 remaining in the half. Connor Henderson
scored two of the three goals, sandwiched around a goal by Ryan
Schmidt. Fisher's offense struck quickly in the first half.
Henderson's goals and the goal by Schmidt were separated by less
than three minutes.
The Golden Flyers' defense, however, settled and allowed the
Cardinals just two goals throughout the remainder of the game. In
fact, the Nazareth defense allowed Fisher just 11 shots during the
entire second half. Senior Todd Dermody recorded three saves in the
final 30 minutes, including a sprawling save where dived from the
ground to block the Cardinals' shot.
Just 12 seconds after Henderson's second goal, DeCirce answered
with his second goal of the game, which was assisted by junior R.J.
Gringeri after Gringeri won the faceoff. About a minuted later,
Jacobs-Ferderbar cut Nazareth's deficit to one goal, 8-7, with an
unassisted goal. With 4:07 to play before halftime, junior Mike
Centra used a screen to beat Cortina to tie the score 8-8. Centra's
goal was assisted by freshman Jimmy Gaffney. Each team had the ball
in the final minutes of the quarter, but neither team's defense
allowed the offenses to score before halftime.
The Golden Flyers and Cardinals traded goals to open the second
half. Nazareth junior Scott Castle struck first 1:09 into the
period to temporarily give the Golden Flyers a 9-8 lead, but Chris
Schmidt answered 1:20 later to knot the game, 9-9. A few minutes
later, DeCirce scored his third goal of the game to reclaim
Nazareth's lead, however Price scored his second of the game for
Fisher to tie the game 10-10, with 3:40 left in the first half. Two
minutes later, DeCirce scored the eventual game-winning goal after
he received a pass from Castle and sent a quick shot past
Cortina.
The Golden Flyers secured the victory in the fourth quarter as they
controlled much of the possession and added three insurance goals.
Senior Mike Cummings scored his first goal of the game 3:19 into
the final quarter. Detwiler added his second of the game with 8:18
to play in regulation and McDonnell tallied his second goal about
five minutes later.
Dermody finished with eight saves to earn the victory for the
Golden Flyers. Cortina finished with a game-high 12 saves in the
loss for the Cardinals.
The Golden Flyers held a 45-31 advantage in shots and a 27-19
advantage in ground balls collected. Each team won 14 faceoffs.
Gringeri won 11 of 19 faceoffs for Nazareth while Erich Rassow won
14 of 28 faceoffs for Fisher. Rassow also collected a team-high six
ground balls. Estes finished with a game-high seven ground balls
for the Golden Flyers.
Nazareth travels to Stevens Saturday for another key Empire 8
Conference contest. The Golden Flyers face the Ducks at 1 p.m.
Nazareth returns home May 1st to close its conference schedule with
game against rival RIT.
