SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The second-seeded Union College men's lacrosse team gets a second crack at the nation's top team on Saturday, as the #12 Dutchmen head to #1 and top-seeded Rochester Institute of Technology to battle for the Liberty League Tournament championship.
 
GAME DETAILS: 1:00 p.m. – RIT Turf Field. Admission to the game is free.
 
LIVE COVERAGE: RIT will provide a free live video stream of the game at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/mxbMUqDCvrV and live stats will also be available at http://www.sidearmstats.com/rit/mlax.
 
THE TEAMS: Union (13-2, 7-1 Liberty League) is seeded second in the tournament for the fifth time since 2008 and reached the finals after a 13-8 victory over third-seeded Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Wednesday, led by five goals from junior Kerry Lyne as well as 15 saves and a goal from senior Jack Santilli. Top-seeded RIT (17-1, 8-0 Liberty League) defeated fifth-seeded St. Lawrence University by a 17-13 score in Wednesday's other semifinal.
 
POSTSEASON HISTORY: Union is making its sixth appearance (2008, 2011-12, 2014-15, 2019) in the conference championship game and is 7-9 all-time in Liberty League Tournament play, including one conference tournament title in 2011. Union and RIT have met five previous times in the conference tournament, including three championship games; the Tigers are 5-0 against the Dutchmen in those contests.

LAST MEETING: Union hosted RIT in the regular-season finale on April 24, with the Tigers emerging as a 12-9 victor. Sophomore Keaton McCann tied the game high with three goals for the Dutchmen, who scored three in a row to get within one goal before the Tigers closed on a 4-2 run to earn the victory.
 
UNION IN THE POLLS: The Dutchmen are ranked 12th in the latest USILA Div. III Coaches Poll for the second week in a row, the team's highest ranking of the season and tied for its highest ranking since the 2015 campaign.
 
LUCKY 13: Only two teams in school history have won more than the 13 wins currently on the Dutchmen's ledger: the 2014 squad won a school-record 15 games and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament, while the 2015 team went 14-5 in advancing to the NCAA second round. The six highest single-season win totals in school history have all come under 13th-year head coach Paul Wehrum.
 
DEFENSE FIRST: Union enters the weekend ranked 17th in Division III in scoring defense, allowing only 7.67 goals per game. The team has conceded more than eight goals just six times and has not allowed more than 12 goals in any game this season. Junior Edward Winters leads the defensive unit with 43 ground balls and a team-best 28 caused turnovers, followed by sophomore Ryan Puglisi with 21 caused turnovers.
 
SANTILLI SAVES: Santilli enters the weekend with the 11th-best goals against average (7.44) in Division III this season, while his .609 save percentage is 10th in the country. The senior netminder was the March ECAC North Goalie of the Month and is the only Liberty League goalie to rank in the top-two of the conference in both categories.
 
X MARKS THE SPOT: Senior Alex Newhouse ranks 48th in Division III with a .619 (130 of 210) winning percentage at the face-off spot. He won a season-high 21-of-25 draws against Ithaca on April 6 and earned a spot on the USILA Div. III Team of the Week as a result.  The senior leads the team with 76 ground balls, ranking third in the conference in ground balls per game.
 
DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH: Union had three players at or near the 30-goal plateau this season, which would be the first time ever (per available records) that three Dutchmen scored 30 goals in the same season. Lyne has a team-best 35 goals and 42 points, and enters the game two goals way from 100 for his career. Sophomore Hayden Frey (31 goals, 10 assists) ranks second on the team in scoring, while classmate Keaton McCann has 29 goals on the year and is the only Dutchman to score at least once in all 15 games this season.