ITHACA, N.Y. – Junior Justin Greene scored the game-winning goal 61 seconds into overtime and classmate Matthew Paolatto was dominant on faceoffs as the #14/20 Union College men's lacrosse team kept their postseason hopes alive with a 10-9 (OT) victory over Ithaca College in the penultimate Liberty League contest of the season on Saturday afternoon at Higgins Stadium.
 
Combined with other results from today, the win moves Union (9-5, 3-3 Liberty League) into a three-way tie for third place in the conference standings with Clarkson University and St. Lawrence University. A win next Saturday in the regular-season finale against Vassar College would clinch at least fourth place in the Liberty League ledger.
 
Six players had two points on the day for Union, including Greene with the game-winning goal and an assist on the team's last tally of regulation. Juniors Clayton Arcuri, Jake Mabardy and Zach Davis all scored twice each, while classmate Peter Kip and sophomore Archie McEvoy added a goal and an assist apiece as well.
 
Paolatto was fantastic at the X for Union on the day, winning 21-of-23 draws and collecting 16 ground balls, the most GBs in a game for the team since Connor Hall '15 in 2015 and tied for the most faceoff wins since Tom Lawton '17 won 23 versus Vassar College in 2016.
 
His most important win came to start overtime, giving Union the first and only possession of extra time. After a shot wide from Davis, Greene got the ball near midfield, dodged past a defender to create plenty of separation, and fired home the game winner from long range with 2:59 left on the clock to set off the Union celebration.
 
After both teams scored twice in the opening frame, Union closed the second stanza with four straight goals to match the largest lead of the day at 6-3. Arcuri knotted the score at three with 11:13 remaining, and Kip put the visitors back in the lead with an unassisted tally less than four minutes later. Senior Jake Titus found the net exactly 60 seconds after Kip, and Mabardy added his first with 19 ticks remaining.
 
Ithaca scored the first two goals of the third quarter to get back within one, but goals from Davis and Arcuri 85 seconds apart regained the three-goal lead headed into the fourth. After more than seven minutes of scoreless play, the Bombers erupted for three goals in 2:13 to tie the score at eight. Mabardy responded 29 seconds later to give Union back the lead, but Ithaca scored after winning just their second faceoff of the day with 1:13 left to send the game into overtime.
 
Junior Dan Donahue came up big with 13 saves for Union to secure the win, as Union posted a 49-35 edge in shots and a 31-19 edge in ground balls.
 
Union will close out the regular season next Saturday in Poughkeepsie beginning at 2 p.m.