SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.Junior attack woman Molly Flanagan closed the first half with three consecutive unassisted goals and finished the game with eight points to lead Union to a critical 13-10 victory over Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association rival Skidmore.

The victory enabled the Dutchwomen to hold on to first place in the UCAA with their 6-1 record and improved the team's overall standard to 9-3. Skidmore fell to 4-3 in the conference and 8-4 overall.

Flanagan's first goal of the game, which came with 17:39 left in the first half, gave Union a 4-2 lead before the Thoroughbreds responded with the game's next four tallies to take a 6-4 advantage with 4:31 remaining.

Flanagan, the team's leading scorer with 45 goals, 15 assists and 60 points, took control of the game to lead the Garnet to a 7-6 lead at halftime. The Simsbury, Connecticut, native, who last year suffered a season-ending knee injury against Skidmore in game 11, found the back of the net at 2:45, at 1:26, and again with 15 seconds remaining.

Skidmore, which never led in the second half, tied the contest at 7-7 at 29:31 before Flanagan and Kathy Dolezal gave the lead back to Union, 9-7, with goals at 23:45 and 23:23, respectively. The Thoroughbreds came back to within 9-8 with 21:51 left to play before Flanagan made it a two-goal game, 10-8, at 16:18.

Once again Skidmore pulled to within one, 10-9 with 8:33 left, before senior captain Julia Davis found the back of the net with her 18th goal of the season with 8:23 remaining. That goal started a 3-0 run for the Garnet with Dolezal scoring back-to-back goals at 5:41 and 2:00 to give Union some breathing room at 13-9. The two tallies gives Dolezal 30 goals on the season.

Sophomore Rachel Beckman picked up her fifth win of the year with a complete-game seven-save performance.

Union holds a one-half game lead over William Smith (5-1 in the conference and 12-1 overall) with two weeks remaining in the regular season. The Dutchwomen have one conference game remaining, at the University of Rochester, while the Herons have two UCAA contests left, at Vassar and at Rensselaer. If Union and William Smith finish with identical UCAA records, the Herons would claim the regular season title and earn the right to host the four-team championship tournament by virtue of their 14-8 win over the Dutchwomen on April 10. The winner of the tournament earns the UCAA's automatic berth in the upcoming NCAA playoffs.