ALFRED, NY—The Alfred University men's lacrosse team (10-5, E8 4-4) relinquished a 6-1 first half lead to fall to St. John Fisher College 9-7 at home Saturday afternoon.
 
AU jumped out to an early 3-1 lead in the game, scoring three times in the first five minutes. Sophomore Jake Lynch (Whitney Point, NY/Whitney Point) tipped off the scoring for the Saxons where he was followed by freshman Joe Fornataro (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena) and junior Derek Bishopp (Livonia, NY/Livonia).
 
Midway through the second quarter the Saxons held a 6-1 lead behind two more goals from Lynch and another from Bishopp. However, the Cardinals rattled off four consecutive goals to close the half to bring the game to 6-5 at the intermission.
 
The Saxons opened the scoring in the third quarter when sophomore Samuel DiRisio (Prattsburgh, NY/Penn Yan) ripped a shot from the top of the offensive third of the field. However, the Saxons remained scoreless for the remainder of the game and allowed four goals to St. John Fisher, falling 9-7.
 
Lynch paced AU with a hat-trick while Bishopp chipped in with two goals. Fisher was led by Nick Papayanakos with three goals.
 
Junior John Winchell (Vestal, NY/Vestal) accumulated two assists as fellow junior Nick Skibitsky (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville East) had one. Winchell collected four ground balls in the game.
 
Junior Jimmy Pratti (Slatehill, NY/Minisink Valley) won 9-of-19 faceoffs and led AU with five ground balls.
 
Senior Nolan Jessop (Rochester, NY/Churchville-Chili) led the Saxons with two caused turnovers to accompany two ground balls.
 
Sohphomore Drew Gardner (Whitney Point, NY/Whitney Point) played the entire game in goal for AU, making 10 saves. Fisher's Tanner Swan collected 14 saves in the game.
 
With the loss the Saxons were held from the Empire 8 Championship tournament and now await word on an ECAC bid. During the 2015 season, AU hosted the ECAC Division III championships, topping Stockton University 10-6 in the first round and falling to Western New England University in the championship game 14-13.