Down 9-8 with just five minutes to play, the St. John Fisher College women’s lacrosse team netted two goals in the final 3:29, including the game-winner with just 20 seconds to play from
Lauren Glavin, to earn a
10-9 win over RIT in the finals of the Empire 8 Women’s Lacrosse Championship.
After making 19 saves, including 10 in the final 30 minutes, junior goalie
Vicki Sahm was named the Empire 8 Tournament's MVP.
The Cardinals, who earned an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Championship with a win, secured the program’s second conference title in the last three seasons. Fisher will find out tonight who it will play in the NCAA Championship. Pairings will be announced from 10-11 p.m. (CLICK HERE TO VIEW SELECTION SHOW)
The Tigers stretched a 7-5 halftime lead to three goals just 2:24 into the final period before the Cardinals began their comeback. Fisher used three straight free-position goals, including two from
Meg Merriam over an 11-minute span to knot the score at 8-8 midway through the second half.
With just under five minutes to play, RIT took its final lead of the game, 9-8, on a goal from Megan Henrikson, before Jen Springett answered back with a free position goal 90 seconds later.
RIT sent several shots wide of the cage in the final two minutes, but Tournament MVP Vicki Sahm, who made 19 saves, and the Fisher defense held on before the Cardinals regained possession and called timeout with 1:29 left to draw up the game-winner.
After Meg Merriam sent a high shot over the goal, Trish Scudder sent a shot that caromed off RIT’s goalie. Glavin collected the ball and banged home the rebound with time running low to give Fisher the 10-9 win.
Scudder scored three goals to lead the Cardinals, while Springett, Merriam and Ashley Fenyn each had two.