NCAA Championship Central

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The #8/10 Union College men's lacrosse team heads south to Christopher Newport University to continue their quest for an NCAA Division III Championship this weekend. The Dutchmen will take on Gettysburg College in the quarterfinals on Saturday at 3 p.m. at CNU's Jennings Family Stadium.
 
WEEKEND DETAILS: Union will take on #18/12 Gettysburg in Saturday's second game, preceded by Saturday's first contest between #3 Christopher Newport and #5/6 York (Pa.) College at 12 p.m. Sunday's national semifinal game is scheduled for 3 p.m. between the winners of Saturday's two contests. Single-day general admission tickets are $10 and can be purchased one hour before the start of the day's first game.
 
LIVE COVERAGE: Christopher Newport will provide a free live video stream for all games in Newport News this weekend and live stats for all games will also be available. Fans can also follow all the action via social media by following Union Men's Lacrosse on Twitter.

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY: Union is making its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance and first since the 2019 season. Union is 9-5 all-time in the NCAAs and has won at least one game in all six NCAA appearances, but the team is 1-5 in games outside Schenectady. This is Union's third appearance in the quarterfinals, having previously won first- and second-round games in 2012 and 2014; the team is looking for its first berth in the national semifinals.
 
MORE UNFAMILIAR FOES: Union has played a total of one game combined against the three teams in Newport News this weekend. The Dutchmen have never faced off with Gettysburg or York (Pa.), and beat Christopher Newport 15-8 in the only all-time meeting on March 21, 2016.
 
HOW UNION GOT HERE: Union (16-2, 6-1 Liberty League) received a Pool C bid after falling in the Liberty League Tournament semifinals, but the Dutchmen rebounded nicely with a pair of convincing wins at home last weekend to start off NCAA Tournament play. Union outscored John Carroll University 10-4 in the first half on the way to a 14-7 second-round win on Saturday, and got off to another quick start on Sunday with the first seven goals of the game to cruise past Western New England University, 21-11, in the third round.

ONE-MAN GANG: Senior Peter Burnes single-handedly outscored Western New England in the three quarters he saw the field on Sunday, scoring seven goals to WNE's six. His nine points match senior Keaton McCann for the most by a Dutchman this season, while the seven goals scored are the most by a Union player since at least 2003 and may be the most in a game since Neil Kanner scored 10 in 1980.

SWEET 16: With Sunday's 16th victory of the year, Union surpassed the 2014 team (15-4) for the most wins in a season in program history. Union has reached double digits in wins eight times in the last 15 years after doing so three times in the program's first 87 years.

ALL-AMERICAN BOYS:  Seven members of the Union men's lacrosse team were named All-Americans by USA Lacrosse Magazine last week. Senior Ryan Puglisi was named to the first team, followed by junior Jake Titus and senior Kieran McGovern on the third team. In addition, seniors Peter Burnes and Matt Belluche as well as sophomores Dan Donahue and Matthew Paolatto were named honorable mention.
 
GIVE ME LIBERTY: The Liberty League proved to be one of the toughest conferences in Division III this season and was rewarded with four NCAA Tournament berths, tied with the NESCAC for the most of any conference. Conference schools posted a combined 56-8 record in non-conference play during the regular season, with Union leading the way by recording its first undefeated non-conference slate (8-0) ever. The conference went 3-1 in the second round and 2-1 in the third round, leaving Union and RIT still standing among the final eight schools.
 
A TOUGH ROAD: Fourteen of Union's 18 games so far this season have come against regionally ranked teams, with the Dutchmen posting a 12-2 record in those contests. Union's opponents have a combined 191-92 (.674) record this season. The Dutchmen are 5-2 in games against nationally ranked opposition this year, including wins over #3 Tufts University and #5 St. John Fisher College.
 
UNION IN THE POLLS: The Dutchmen have been ranked in every national poll this season, having been ranked no lower than 12th in the USILA or Inside Lacrosse rankings. Union has been ranked as high as third in the IL media poll and fourth in the USILA coaches poll in 2022, the highest ranking for the program since the 2015 team was ranked third in the USILA poll.
 
THEY'D BE HONORED: Union tied a program record with 10 All-Liberty League selections this season. Senior Peter Burnes was the first player in program history to earn conference Offensive Player of the Year honors, and was joined on the first team by senior Matt Belluche, junior Jake Titus and sophomore Matthew Paolatto. Seniors Brian Davis, Hayden Frey, Kieran McGovern and Ryan Puglisi, as well as junior Clint Gourdeau and sophomore Dan Donahue, all earned All-Conference second-team honors.
  
EXCLUSIVE COMPANY: With his fourth straight All-Liberty League second-team honor, senior Hayden Frey is just the second player in program history to earn four All-Conference nods in a career. He joins former Dutchman All-American and current head coach Derek Witheford '11, who earned four straight honors from 2008-11, on the exclusive list. Frey enters the weekend seventh in school history in career points (164) and ninth in career goals (105).
 
X MARKS THE SPOT: Union boasts one of the nation's top one-two punches at the faceoff X in senior Sam Byrne and sophomore Matthew Paolatto. Paolatto ranks ninth in Division III by winning 162 of his 229 draws (70.7 percent), while Byrne has won 140 of 237 draws (59.1 percent) to rank 76th. In total, Union ranks 19th in the country by winning 65.5 percent of its draws so far in 2022.
 
SPREADING THE WEALTH: All three of Union's starting attackmen have earned Liberty League Offensive Player of the Week awards this season. Seniors Hayden Frey and Peter Burnes have both earned the honor twice, while classmate Keaton McCann has been selected once. With all three players over the 50-point plateau on the season, it marks the first time in program history that three Union teammates recorded 50 or more points in the same season.
 
FEELING THE BURNES: Senior Peter Burnes is having one of the best offensive seasons in program history. The attacker is tied for second all-time at Union with 55, behind only the 67 of Dennis Walker '74 in 1974. Only one Dutchman ever has recorded more points than Burnes' 78, coming in 1974 and 1975 when Bob Grossman '75 recorded 94 and 82 points, respectively.

MCCANN CAN: Fellow senior Keaton McCann moved into sixth place on Union's career scoring list with 114 goals and also entered the all-time top-10 in points with 153. His career average of 1.81 goals per game is the sixth-best mark ever at the school.
 
AWARD-WINNING: Sophomore Dan Donahue earned his sixth Liberty League Defensive Player of the Week award of the season this week, the most times ever that a Union player has been recognized in a single season. Donahue enters the weekend with a program-record 15 victories and ranks top-40 in the country with a .577 save percentage and 9.28 goals against average.
 
ABOUT THE BULLETS: Gettysburg (14-7, 6-2 Centennial) received a Pool C berth into the NCAA Tournament and has made the most of it, defeating Roanoke College by a 14-8 score in the second round before scoring the only upset of the third round, a 17-7 defeat of conference rival #7 Dickinson College. The Bullets lead Division III in turnovers per game, giving the ball up less than 15 times per outing, and also boast a stingy defensive unit that allows only 8.67 goals per contest to rank 35th in the country and clears at an 88.1 percent success rate (16th in D-III).
 
Goalie Scott MacMillan has started every game as the backbone of the Gettysburg defense, ranking 28th in the country with an 8.72 goals against average to go with a .552 save percentage and 14-7 record. The defense is led by All-Centennial Conference first-teamer Zack Puckhaber, who has 32 ground balls and 26 caused turnovers on the season, and Andy Marquet, who leads the team with 30 caused turnovers and has grabbed 42 ground balls. The offense is spurred on by George Raymond, who paces the team in scoring with 41 goals and 32 assists for 73 points, and the 32 goals and 30 assists of Spencer Knife.
 
ABOUT THE CAPTAINS: Christopher Newport (18-1, 2-0 C2C) earned the lone Pool B bid into the NCAA Tournament thanks to the best season in program history, and proved worthy of the bid with a pair of easy wins last weekend, defeating Sewanee by a 29-5 margin and easing past #14 Wesleyan University, 21-8. The Captains have been highly ranked all season long, spending three weeks as the nation's top team before falling to Salisbury University in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference title game. CNU is outscoring its opponents by an average of 12 goals per game this season and boasts the third-best scoring offense (19.63 gpg) and ninth-best scoring defense (7.63 gpg) in the country, while also leading Division III in assists per game, caused turnovers per game and ground balls per game.
 
CNU was the only team in Division III to have more players named to the USA Lacrosse Magazine All-America teams than Union with eight honorees, including three first-team selections. Defender Max Wayne was selected by the Atlas Lacrosse Club in the third round of the Premier Lacrosse League draft last week and ranks second on the team with 53 caused turnovers, just behind the 54 CTs of fellow defender Phoenix Hines. Offensively, Dylan Rice is the first Captain ever to eclipse 100 points in a season with his team-leading 70 goals and 33 assists, followed by Coby Auslander with 29 goals and a team-best 46 assists.
 
ABOUT THE SPARTANS: York (19-2, 8-0 MAC Commonwealth) is the only team in the pod to have earned an automatic bid to the NCAAs after winning the MAC Commonwealth regular-season and tournament titles. The Spartans advanced to the second weekend thanks to a pair of easy home victories, taking out Southern Virginia University, 18-8, in Friday's second round before a 16-4 win over #19 Denison University on Saturday. York boasts the nation's second-best scoring defense at 7.0 goals per game allowed, while also ranking top-10 nationally in ground balls, faceoff winning percentage and assists.
 
The Spartan defense is anchored by Ryan Kennedy, who was signed by Redwoods Lacrosse Club of the Premier Lacrosse League after a season in which he has grabbed 103 ground balls and ranks 20th in Division III with nearly three caused turnovers per game. Jack Michael sits second in the country with a 7.10 goals against average and has a .560 save percentage. Offensively, Ben Mayer and Will Harnick lead the team with 54 goals apiece, with Mayer adding 32 assists for a team-best 86 points.
 
WHAT'S NEXT: The winner of this weekend's pod will advance to the Division III national championship game, which is set for Sunday, May 29 at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn. The full bracket can be viewed here.