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ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- After falling behind host St. John Fisher 5-0 in the first 15:11 of the first half, Nazareth rallied to trim its deficit to two goals, 15-13, before the Cardinals went on to the 16-13 victory in a women's Empire 8 conference lacrosse game. Sophomore Megan Cregan scored three goals for the Golden Flyers.

With the loss, Nazareth falls to 6-3 overall and 1-1 in conference games. Following the victory, Fisher improves to 6-3 overall and 2-1 in the Empire 8.

With 14:14 remaining in the first half, sophomore Kayleigh Pearson put the Golden Flyers on the board after receiving a pass from senior Chelsey Amidon. Cregan scored her first goal of the game on a free position shot 3:34 later to cut Fisher's early advantage to three goals. The Cardinals, however, answered with back-to-back goals spanning 1:03 to reclaim their five-goal advantage, 7-2.

After Fisher's consecutive goals, Nazareth and Fisher traded the next four goals of the game to maintain the Cardinals' five-goal lead. Fisher added another goal 11 seconds later to stretch their lead to 10-4 at halftime. Sophomores Leah Cronister and Alyssa Johnston scored for Nazareth with junior Brittany Buza and sophomore Erinn Wood recording the respective assists.

Fisher extended its lead to seven goals 2:31 into the second half, but the Golden Flyers cut into their deficit with three straight goals to trim the Cardinals' lead to 11-7 with 24:04 remaining in regulation. Nazareth's three goals, scored by senior Michelle Cook, Johnston, and senior Kristine Olijnyk, were separated by less than three minutes.

Fisher scored three of the next four goals to extend its lead to 14-8 with just over 13 minutes to play. The Golden Flyer's lone goal was scored by Wood after she received a pass from Cook. Facing another six-goal deficit, Nazareth continued to battle and scored five of the next six goals to cut the Cardinals' advantage to 15-13 with 3:13 left in regulation.

Freshman Amy McIntosh ignited the Golden Flyers' rally with an unassisted goal with 13:00 left in the period. After McIntosh's goal, Wood set up Olijynk's and Cregan's second goals of the game to trim Fisher's lead to three goals. After a Cardinals' goal slowed the Golden Flyers' run, Cregan and Amidon each scored to bring Nazareth to within two goals. However, Melissa Leonhard sealed Fisher's victory as she tallied her sixth goal of the game with under one minute remaining.

Freshman Tara Prosak started in net for Nazareth and was credited with four saves during the first half. Sophomore Shelby Robinson played in goal in the second half and recorded two saves. Johnston finished the game with a team-high five ground balls collected and three caused turnovers. Molly Naylon played all 60 minutes in goal for Fisher and tallied nine saves.

The Cardinals finished with a 32-25 advantage in ground balls collected and a 34-28 advantage in shots. Free position shots allowed Fisher to build and maintain its lead as the Cardinals finished 7-12 on free position opportunities while Nazareth was 1-7. The Golden Flyers finished with a 16-15 edge in draw controls.

Nazareth plays its final two regular season home games this weekend. The Golden Flyers host Alfred Saturday afternoon and Utica Sunday afternoon. Both games begin at 1 p.m. and will be critical in the Empire 8 conference standings.