St. John Fisher men’s lacrosse ready for first Elite 8 appearance

PITTSFORD, N.Y. (WROC) — The St. John Fisher men’s lacrosse team entered the NCAA tournament unranked. In the regular season, they went 0-3 against ranked teams.

Sure they had won four straight Empire 8 Championships, but their run seemed destined to end in the first weekend of the tourney.

No one told the Cardinals that.

St. John Fisher hit the road to Connecticut and knocked off Wesleyan University and St. Lawrence University, both top-ten teams in the country.

The wins punched their ticket to the Elite 8 for the first time in program history.

“It’s unbelievable,” said senior Matthew Kemmis, the team’s leading scorer. “Making history in this program is something that I think everyone who comes into this program dreams of. Doing it was awesome and an unbelievable experience and I’ll remember it for my whole life.”

“This group of guys is a group of guys that I’ll never forget,” said Canandaigua native and senior defenseman Joe Urlacher. “It’s something that I’m super proud of, but we’re not satisfied with where we are and we know that we can make a big push this weekend.”

So how exactly were the Cardinals able to peak at the right time?

“There’s no formula for it,” said head coach Dave Dobbins. “If you had that formula, you’d probably be here every year.”

“It’s something that we’ve always known we’ve had the capabilities of,” said Kemmis. “Just wanting to be together is something that has truly motivated us.”

The Cardinals are back on the road this weekend and will take on sixth-ranked Tufts University on Saturday, May 18th. A win would likely set up a matchup with #1 Salisbury in the semifinals.

A big point of emphasis at practice has been moving on from their triumphs and turning the page toward the goal ahead.

“Physically, mentally, and emotionally, it’s a draining weekend,” said Dobbins. “We talked about the emotional piece of draining that tank and starting to re-fill it.”

One way that the Cardinals get a boost is thanks to their honorary team captain, 12-year-old Jack Harrison.

Harrison has an inoperable brain tumor but after plenty of chemotherapy, he’s entered long-term survivorship.

He’s been with the team for the past two seasons. Harrison attends about 4-5 home games a year and plenty of practices, helping provide perspective to the team.

“Our guys light up every time they see him. Every game, no matter what it is, they just love it when Jack shows up,” said Dobbins. “His eyes light up but our guys’ eyes light up. He’s an inspiration. For what he’s been through and to be where he is now, maybe that bruise you have on your knee doesn’t hurt as bad as when he was going through chemotherapy. He’s been a huge inspiration for our team.”

Harrison wrapped up Wednesday’s by singing some karaoke (he’s also in a band). The song was “Country Roads” by John Denver.

The Cardinals are hoping that their road leads to Philadelphia and the NCAA Championship Game.

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