SCHENECTADY, NY – Senior attack Nolan Connors had five goals and junior attack Rob Santangelo had three goals and three assists to lead men's lacrosse (8-6, 3-3 Liberty League) to a 15-8 win over Skidmore (4-11, 2-4 Liberty League) on Senior Day at Frank Bailey Field.

With the win, Union clinched the No. 4 seed in the Liberty League Tournament and will take on No. 1 seed RIT next Friday in the semifinals at a time to be announced.

Sophomore goalie Stefan Basile made nine saves and senior midfielder Alex Stone was out standing in the faceoff circle, winning 16-of-24 draws with a team leading 12 ground balls.

Matt Diaco made 13 saves, Jon Hoeg had two goals and an assist and Kevin Mulvey added a pair of goals for Skidmore, which led 4-1 late in the first quarter only to see Union go on an 8-0 run to take the lead for good.

With Skidmore holding an early 2-0 lead on goals by Mulvey and Hoeg, sophomore Richard Gregory responded with a turnaround shot from 10 yards out to cut the lead to one goal. Yet JP Sullivan and Mulvey answered for the Thoroughbreds with goals at 7:16 and 6:23 to put Skidmore ahead 4-1, forcing a Union timeout.

Connors started a run of eight straight goals for Union beating Diaco with a low shot off a feed from Santangelo at 2:04.

Santangelo would score one of his own at :28 mark to cut the Skidmore lead to 4-3 at the end of the first quarter.
Junior midfielder Nate Greenberg scored from a wide angle at 14:09 to tie the score, and senior midfielder Peter Griesinger scored from straightaway at 13:21 to give Union a 5-4 lead. Connors scored three straight goals at 10:39, 9:43, and 8:43, and Santangelo finished the run with a low scoop shot on a run from behind the net at 7:21 to put Union ahead 9-4.

Union would take a 10-6 lead into the half after Skidmore's Mike Perlow (5:17) and Matt O'Hara (:57) scored around Connors' fifth goal of the game for Union at 1:52.

The Dutchmen outscored Skidmore 4-1 in the third quarter to put the game out of reach with Greenberg scoring his second of the game with a low shot from the wing at 14:08, freshman attack Nolan Stauffer adding a goal with a leaping high-to-low shot at 5:09, Santangelo scoring his third of the game, a man-up goal at 1:53, and Jake Quinn adding a goal with 1:18 remaining to put Union up 15-7. Hoeg scored his second goal of the game for Skidmore at 7:13.

Union's Stauffer (4:38) and Skidmore's Mike Mozer (1:51) added goals in the fourth quarter to round out the scoring.