TROY, N.Y. – In a match-up of long-time Liberty League rivals, the No. 14 Union College men's lacrosse team traveled across the river to deal Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute a 15-8 defeat in a Liberty League matchup on Wednesday night at ECAV Stadium.
 
With the win, Union (5-1, 4-1 Liberty League) clinches its spot in next week's Liberty League Tournament. The Dutchmen could still finish anywhere from first place to fourth depending on results from Saturday's final day of the regular season, when Union will host #1 Rochester Institute of Technology on Senior Day.
 
Leading all players in scoring was junior Keaton McCann, who had six goals and one assist on the game. But the Dutchmen received help from everywhere as several players had multi-point performances, including seniors Kieran McGovern (4G-1A) and Aidan Flood (1G-4A) with five points apiece and junior Brian Davis with two goals and an assist. 
 
In the first quarter of action, Union jumped out to an early 1-0 lead as McCann opened up the contest with his 18th goal of the season just two minutes in on a feed from McGovern. But the Engineers pushed back as Tom Oslislo added two of his own before the Davis scored to take a 2-2 score into the second quarter. 
 
To open the second frame, RPI came out firing as they took their first lead of the contest just 13 seconds into the quarter. But the Dutchmen responded with an onslaught of five unanswered goals as Davis and McCann each added their second of the game, and McGovern tallied three goals to take a commanding 7-3 lead. In the final five minutes of action, RPI scored two goals, but Flood chalked up his first of the game to take an 8-5 lead into halftime. 

Union put the game away with a dominating third quarter, outscoring the Engineers 5-0 and holding a 15-3 edge in shots. McCann scored three of the Dutchmen's five goals during the frame, but the real story came on the other end as the Engineers were held without a single shot on goal in the quarter and turned the ball over six times. Heading into the fourth, the Dutchmen led 13-5.
 
After holding the Engineers scoreless in the third quarter, RPI and Union traded goals in the opening five minutes of the fourth, including junior Peter Burnes' first goal of the game and McCann's sixth. In the final 10 minutes of action, the Union defense continued to hold strong only allowing one more goal with just 57 seconds left in the game, bringing the final tally to 15-8. 
 
For the game, Union outshot RPI by a 42-33 margin. First-year Dan Donahue made seven saves in 56:22 of action to pick up the victory.
 
Union will complete the regular-season slate on Saturday, when the Dutchmen host #1 RIT on Senior Day at Frank Bailey Field at Bertagna-Class of 1985 Stadium. Game time is set for 2 p.m.