SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College women's lacrosse team is back in the Liberty League Tournament for the second straight season, and the fifth-seeded Dutchwomen will make the short trip across the Hudson River to take on fourth-seeded Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Tuesday at Renwyck Field.
 
Union (6-9, 5-5 Liberty League) returns to the postseason for the second year in a row after finishing in a tie for fifth in the conference standings. Rensselaer (11-4, 7-3 Liberty League), which did not participate in women's lacrosse last season due to the pandemic, is the fourth seed. Third-seeded Ithaca College and sixth-seeded Clarkson University will meet in Wednesday's other first-round game, while top-seeded William Smith College and second-seeded St. Lawrence University earned byes into the semifinals.

LIVE COVERAGE: For those that can't make it to Troy for the game, RPI will be providing live stats and live video. Fans can also get in-game updates by following @unionwlax on Twitter.
 
POSTSEASON HISTORY: Union will be making its 14th appearance in the conference tournament and is 13-10 all-time in Liberty League Tournament play entering 2022. The Dutchwomen have three Liberty League Tournament championships (2005, 2006, 2015) to their credit and have won five conference titles overall, including a pair of UCAA regular-season titles (1999, 2002) before the conference tournament was instituted in 2004.
 
UNION VS. THE ENGINEERS: The Dutchwomen and Engineers have met 33 times previously, with Union holding a 20-13 edge in the all-time series. The teams have met three times in the Liberty League Tournament, with RPI earning two wins (2014 championship, 2012 semifinals) and Union earning one (2011 semifinals).
 
LAST MEETING: In the teams' regular-season meeting, RPI outscored Union 4-1 in the fourth quarter to pull out a 15-13 win in Troy in Union's regular-season opener. The visitors fell behind 5-0 early and trailed 9-4 in the second quarter before a huge rally, outscoring RPI 8-1 to take a 12-10 lead late in the third before the home team scored five in a row to take back the lead for good. Junior Dana Truini led Union with four goals while classmate Drew Charlton added three.
 
SOARING TO NEW HEITS: Senior Grace Heiting became the 22nd player in program history to record 100 career points on Wednesday against Bard. The attacker has taken on more of the scoring responsibility in April after an injury to last year's leading scorer Sydney McPartlon, averaging 4.0 goals and 5.3 points per game over the last nine contests. She has no fewer than four points in each of her last eight outings, including a career-high nine points against Clarkson on April 9.

JUST LIKE THEY DREW IT UP: Junior Drew Charlton has had a breakout season in the midfield for Union, scoring a career-best 31 goals with four assists to rank second on the team in scoring. She also ranks second on the team with 45 draw controls and sits third with 25 ground balls.
 
LOCK-DOWN D: After earning All-Liberty League first-team honors a year ago, senior Elizabeth Hernberg has upped her game considerably as a senior. The defender leads the team in ground balls with 36 and ranks second both on the team and in the conference with 28 caused turnovers. She leads a senior-laden defensive unit along with Kit Christian, Grace O'Hara and Ali Sommers that allow 12.93 goals per game this season.
 
IN THE RECORD BOOKS: Heiting enters the week in a tie for 10th place on the school's single-season goals list (51) and tied for 13th in single-season points. Her current average of 4.93 points per game would be the highest in school history, slightly better than the 4.85 points per game of Union Hall of Famer Molly Flanagan in 2004. Heiting's 35 caused turnovers this season are also the most for a Union player since Flanagan caused 48 during the 2005 campaign.
 
ABOUT THE ENGINEERS: Rensselaer is back in the postseason after missing the last two seasons due to COVID-19. The Engineers average 13.13 goals per game this season to rank fifth in the conference and give up 10.27 goals per contest to rank fourth among Liberty League schools, while also ranking third in the conference and 27th nationally by controlling over 16 draws per game. Junior Megan Shay is the team's top scorer with a school-record 53 goals and seven assists for 60 points, followed by senior Sabrina Torcellini with 27 goals and 12 assists. Junior Rylie Maready ranks third on the team with 36 points and also ranks 23rd nationally by controlling over seven draws per game.
 
WHAT'S NEXT: The winner of today's game will advance to the semifinal round for a matchup against top-seeded William Smith College on Saturday.