ROCHESTER, NY – 19^th-ranked St. John Fisher earned its 11-straight Empire 8 Women's Lacrosse Championship on Saturday, defeating second-seeded Nazareth 10-5. Nazareth had an outstanding effort from goaltender Allie Klestinec who made 12 saves and helped keep the Golden Flyers in the contest.
 
Nazareth finishes the season 10-8 overall, while St. John Fisher improves to 16-2. The Cardinals earn an automatic berth the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Championships.
 
It was the third straight year that Fisher and Nazareth met in the finals, with Fisher winning 13-3 in 2021 and 12-7 in 2022.
 
Nazareth was hampered on the draw control the entire contest, only winning two of 19, with its first coming in the third quarter. Fisher won all 10 draw controls in the first half.
 
Despite the draw control disparity, the Cardinals lead was just 5-3 at the half thanks to Klestinec's strong play, along with the Golden Flyers defense. The shots were 18-4 in favor of the Cardinals at the half.
 
Nazareth opened the scoring with Maren Wallace notching her 21^st of the season nearly seven minutes in. After also adding an assist in the game, Wallace finishes with 96 career points.
 
Fisher added the next three goals of the quarter and Klestinec made a big save in the final seconds of the quarter to keep the score at 3-1.
 
The Cardinals added a goal in the second before Nazareth responded with two of its own to bring the deficit to within 4-3. Makenna Misiurewicz scored from Kate Metzler and then Reva Mussi scored on the free position.
 
In the third quarter, Mussi netted her second of the game to pull Nazareth within 5-4. 
 
Fisher, however, scored the next four goals of the game to seize control. Nazareth's only other goal came from Annie Rubel with 1:38 remaining in the game.
 
Fisher finished the game with a 32-10 edge in shots and 23-15 margin in ground balls.