CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Union College women's lacrosse team started its 2023 season on Sunday afternoon at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, falling to the Engineers by a 15-10 score in a non-conference matchup at Jack Barry Field.
 
Sophomore Greta Maurer led Union (0-1) with three goals, followed by senior Sydney McPartlon and junior Anna Smith netting two goals each. Junior Audrey Larson and first-year Christina Guanci both scored their first collegiate goals and senior Dana Truini added a goal as well for the visitors.
 
Union and MIT played each other to a stalemate in the opening half, with each team scoring three goals in both the first and second frames. After MIT's Ellie Rabenold scored the first of her game-high five goals, Union came back with three in a row to take a 3-1 lead on tallies from McPartlon, Smith and Maurer. However, the Engineers scored the final two goals of the quarter and three of the next four to start the second to take a 6-4 lead. But the visitors came back again to knot the score, with Truini and Larson finding the net 33 seconds apart to tie the game at six headed into halftime.
 
First-year Sydney Widlitz got the start in goal for Union and made four saves on 10 shots over the opening half in her collegiate debut.
 
Three straight goals put the home team up 9-6 early in the third quarter, but Maurer came back with two in a row to get back within a goal. Following a pair of MIT goals, Guanci scored her first career tally from the eight-meter arc and Smith scored with 1:57 left to make it a 11-10 game headed into the fourth frame. The game turned MIT's away in the fourth, however, as the home team outshot Union 7-1 and scored the only four goals to pull away with the victory.
 
Junior Hannah Dubinsky went between the pipes for Union in the second half and made four saves on 13 shots to suffer the loss.
 
Union will return to action on Wednesday with a 4 p.m. non-conference matchup at Castleton University.