SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – #10 St. Lawrence University held #4 Union College off the scoreboard for more than 27 minutes in the second and third quarters while scoring 10 straight goals as the third-seeded Saints dealt the second-seeded Dutchmen a 15-9 loss in the Liberty League Tournament semifinals on Wednesday afternoon at Frank Bailey Field at Bertagna-Class of 1985 Stadium.
 
The win advances St. Lawrence (13-3) to the Liberty League championship game against top-seeded Rochester Institute of Technology on Saturday. Union (14-2) will have to wait and see if its resume, which includes 10 wins over regionally ranked teams, will be enough to earn an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Dutchmen struggled to get consistently good looks on the offensive end against the Saints, as the team was limited to single digits for the first time since the opening game of the season. The team also struggled with unforced errors, turning the ball over 17 times.
 
The game started off well for the home team, as after Jack Hennessey opened the scoring for St. Lawrence, Union responded with five straight goals to take a 5-1 lead after 15 minutes. Senior Peter Burnes evened the score with his 45th goal of the year at 3:14 into the game, followed by back-to-back goals from classmate Kieran McGovern that put the Dutchmen ahead. Senior Keaton McCann followed with a goal of his own and then fed classmate Brian Davis for a man-up tally with eight seconds left. The goal was just the fourth man-down goal allowed by SLU's nation-leading kill this year.
 
The game turned quickly after that, however, with Union going scoreless in the second stanza to allow the Saints to tie the score at the half. The Dutchmen managed only six possessions in the 15 minutes of action, turning the ball over four times and taking only four off-target shot attempts.
 
The drought continued into the third quarter thanks to turnovers on the first two Union possessions that led to a pair of Ben Murtaugh goals for the visitors. SLU piled on four more tallies to take an 11-5 lead before senior Owen Toland finally ended the scoreless streak with his fourth goal of the year at 13:21 of the period. Sophomore Peter Kip gave the Dutchmen a little more momentum with another goal soon after, but a Hennessey goal with 16 ticks on the clock gave the Saints back a 12-7 lead after 45 minutes.
 
Union could never get any sustained momentum in the fourth quarter, with turnovers continuing to haunt the home team as the Dutchmen were outscored by a 3-2 margin.
 
St. Lawrence posted a 43-33 edge in shots on the game, with Union sophomore Dan Donahue turning aside 13 shots and SLU keeper William Helm making eight stops.
 
Union will learn its tournament fate on Sunday, with the NCAA D-III Men's Lacrosse selection show set for 9 p.m. on NCAA.com.