SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Senior Peter Burnes scored six times for the second straight game and 13 players had at least one point as the #4 Union College men's lacrosse team improved to 13-1 for the first time in program history with a 19-11 victory over Ithaca College on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Frank Bailey Field at Bertagna-Class of 1985 Stadium.
 
Burnes had another big game for Union (13-1, 5-1 Liberty League), scoring four or more goals for the sixth time in the last eight games. Sophomore Peter Kip finished second on the squad with three goals, while senior Jack Donahue recorded a season-high four points with two goals and two assists. In all, 10 different players found the net for the Dutchmen.
 
Union took control of the game from the very beginning on Saturday, scoring the first five goals of the contest and jumping out to a 9-1 lead early in the second quarter. After six scoreless minutes, senior Keaton McCann opened the scoring with 8:59 left in the first quarter. The huge surge came a few minutes later, when the home team scored four times in the span of 89 seconds to take control. Burnes scored two while classmates Brian Davis and Jake Titus added one each during the run.
 
After Ithaca scored late in the first quarter, Union came back again with four goals in 2:24 to take a 9-1 lead. Burnes scored in the final minute of the opening frame, followed by goals from Davis, senior Sam Byrne and sophomore Justin Greene in the opening 91 seconds of the second stanza.
 
Part of the first half dominance came from the excellent play of Byrne and sophomore Matthew Paolatto at the faceoff X, as the Dutchmen won 14-of-16 draws in the first half. As a result of the huge possession edge, Union took 38 shots toward the Ithaca cage in the opening 30 minutes.
 
Ithaca put some pressure on Union in the third and fourth quarters, outscoring the home team 4-2 in the third quarter and then scoring the first two of the final frame to get within four at 14-10 with 13:42 remaining. But after a caused turnover by Davis, Kip finally halted the momentum with his first goal of the game.
 
Kip's goal started a stretch of six straight Union goals that finally put away the Bombers. Kip had three tallies during that stretch, which ended with senior Owen Toland's third goal of the season with 6:10 remaining.
 
Union went 25-of-33 at the X on the day. Byrne won 13-of-16 draws and grabbed a team-best 10 ground balls while scoring once, and Paolatto won 11-of-15 draws with nine ground balls. As a result, Union outshot Ithaca by a 60-37 margin.
 
The Dutchmen will close out the regular season next Saturday with a Senior Day matchup against Vassar College beginning at 11 a.m.