ITHACA, N.Y. (May 7, 2016) – The second-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology women's lacrosse team couldn't recover from a 7-2 first-half deficit Saturday in an 11-5 loss to third-seeded St. John Fisher College in the semifinal of the Empire 8 Conference Championship.

The loss ends Stevens' season at 10-7, while Fisher (15-3) will move on to tomorrow's final against top-seeded Ithaca College. 

Junior Mary Beth Irwin led the Ducks offensively with three points off two goals and an assist off the bench, while junior Mariel Haubrich, senior Erika Wilcox, and junior Laura Roberts each added one goal. Sophomore Cami Santor chipped-in with two assists, and sophomore Victoria Alvarez won twice on the draw. 

As a team, the Ducks outshot Fisher 20-14, and were 9-for-10 on clear attempts. 

Roberts started the scoring for Stevens with a score off a feed from Santor less than three minutes into regulation, but Fisher responded with three goals over the next four minutes to take a 3-1 lead. 

The Cardinals continued the run with four more unanswered, before Wilcox ended the run with 2:24 left on the clock to cut the deficit to five heading into the break.

Irwin sliced into the lead even more with her goal off a pass from junior Kathleen Kalbian early in the second, followed by back-to-back goals from Fisher and Stevens to place the score at 8-4. Fisher was able to respond to the Stevens pressure however, scoring three more unanswered to put the Ducks in a seven-goal hole with 9:12 to go.

Haubrich got the Ducks back on the board with a goal off an assist from Santor just past the five-minute mark, but it's all the scoring Stevens would do as a pair of shot attempts from Kalbian in the final two minutes were each saved by Fisher goalie Hayley Peets. 

The loss ends a second consecutive winning season for the Ducks. 

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