SCHENECTADY, NY – Sophomore Matt Douglas (New York, NY/ The Hotchkiss School) scored a career-high five goals to lead all scorers in the game, but the Union College men's lacrosse team fell to 10th-ranked St. Lawrence, 15-12, in Liberty League action at Frank Bailey Field Sunday afternoon. Douglas tied up the game early in the third quarter, and registered three goals in the final 5:34 of the game. The win marked the eighth straight for the Saints, who were led by a five-point effort from junior Kevin Russell (Madison, CT/ Fairfield Prep).
Union (4-8, 1-4 Liberty League) opened the scoring in the eighth minute of the game when freshman
Scott Garibaldi (Summit, NJ/ Summit) recorded the Dutchmen's first man-down goal of the season.
St. Lawrence (10-1, 4-0 Liberty League) answered back with five unanswered goals, starting less than a minute later when Derek Hansen (Madison, CT/ Daniel Hand) snagged a rebound in mid-air and sent his shot past Union goaltender
Rob Oram (New Canaan, CT/ New Canaan) as the net toppled over.
Andy Centauro (Sudbury, MA/ Lincoln-Sudbury) followed with his first of three goals on the day before Willie Lapinksi (Canton, NY/ Hugh C. Williams) scored with 3:32 left to play in the opening quarter. Ben Prime (Hingham, MA/ Deerfield Academy) gave the Saints a 4-1 lead with his first of two tallies to close the opening frame.
Brendan Lynch (Medfield, MA/ Medfield) slipped a shot between Oram and the near post to open the second quarter to extend the visitors' lead to 5-1, but Union leading scorer
Chris Collison (Trumbull, CT/ Trumbull) converted a pass from behind the net by
Tom Simmons (Salisbury, CT/ Salisbury School) to halt the Saints' streak with11:44 left in the half.
Will McKee (Old Greenwich, CT/ The Gunney) gave St. Lawrence a 6-2 lead midway through the second frame before Union rattled off four straight goals to cut the Saints' lead to one at the half.
Douglas sparked the Dutchmen's blitz with a man-up goal assisted by
Jon Miller (Yarmouth, ME/ Yarmouth) with 4:20 left in the half. Garibaldi scooped up a groundball behind the net and fed Collison for a goal less than two minutes later. Miller closed the half by rolling a low shot past St. Lawrence netminder Tom Hollingsworth (Wilton, CT/ Wilton).
Douglas knotted the game just over four minutes into the second half after collecting a long clearing pass from Oram. He then carried the ball all the way down behind the net before sending a low shot past Hollingsworth at 4:47 of the third.
The Saints rallied with three goals in a span of 1:27, the first coming just 27 seconds after Douglas had tied the game. Russell beat Oram with a low shot before Prime netted his second of the game. Russell followed to give the Saints a 9-6 advantage.
The Dutchmen cut the Saints' lead to one on goals by Collison and Garibaldi, but St. Lawrence kept the upper hand, and fought off three unassisted goals by Douglas in the final frame to hold the lead. Centauro scored a wide-open goal with 39 seconds remaining to seal the game.
St. Lawrence outshot Union, 62-32, with 36 shots hitting the cage. Oram made a season-high 21 saves in the loss, and stopped nine in the first quarter. Hollingsworth stopped 11 Union shots, including six in the third quarter.
The Dutchmen held the Saints scoreless in extra-man opportunities, while scoring once in three man-up chances.
Union will face Hamilton in its final home game of the season on Wednesday, April 25 at 4 p.m.
