CANTON, N.Y. – The Union College women's lacrosse team came up just short in a matchup of squads receiving votes in this week's IWLCA Division III national poll, falling by a 10-9 score to St. Lawrence University in Liberty League action on Friday afternoon at Hall-Leet Stadium.
 
Senior Drew Charlton had a strong game to lead Union (6-2, 2-2 Liberty League), netting a team-high four goals while adding five draw controls, four caused turnovers and three ground balls. Senior Sydney McPartlon and sophomore Greta Maurer added two goals and an assist each for the visitors.
 
Jacqui Cloutier scored a game-high five goals to pace St. Lawrence (4-5, 2-2 Liberty League), including the eventual game-winning tally in the fourth quarter.
 
The Saints jumped out to an early lead, scoring on their first three possessions to take a 3-0 lead less than four minutes into the contest. Goals by Maurer and McPartlon brought the visitors back within a goal with 9:10 left in the opening frame, but SLU got one back to take a 4-2 lead into the second stanza. The next period featured only a single goal for each team, with the Union defense keeping the Saints off the scoreboard for more than 14 minutes to head into halftime down 5-3.
 
Union outscored St. Lawrence by a 3-2 margin in the third period, but the visitors had the better of play and would have had more tallies if not for eight stops from SLU keeper Raelynn Bovenzi. Goals from Charlton and McPartlon evened the score at five 4:01 into the period and Union had several chances to take the lead after that, but three Bovenzi saves thwarted multiple good opportunities. Cloutier came back with back-to-back tallies to put the home team back in front, but Charlton made it a one-goal game headed to the final frame with her second of the day.
 
Union battled back to tie the score twice in the fourth quarter, with Charlton evening the score at seven and eight with goals from the eight-meter arc. However, two Saints tallies put the home team in a good spot up 10-8 with 4:22 remaining. Junior Dana Nelson gave Union life by scoring with 2:44 remaining, but St. Lawrence controlled the subsequent draw and took over two minutes off the clock, which did not allow Union a final offensive possession to tie the score.
 
SLU finished with a slight 31-27 edge in total shots, with Union putting 22 shots on target compared to 20 for the Saints. Bovenzi made 13 saves to earn the win for the home team, while first-year Sydney Widlitz made 10 saves to keep Union in the game.
 
Union will look to bounce back tomorrow with a conference matchup at Clarkson University beginning at 2 p.m.