SCHENECTADY, N.Y. - Senior Sydney McPartlon scored a team-leading four goals and first-year Sydney Widlitz made her 14th and final save of the game with 13 seconds remaining to seal fourth-seeded Union College's 12-11 victory over fifth-seeded Rensselaer Polytyechnic Institute in the first round of the 2023 Liberty League Women's Lacrosse Tournament on Tuesday evening at Frank Bailey Field at Bertagna-Class of 1985 Stadium.

With the win, Union (11-5) advances to the Liberty League semifinals for the third straight season, where the team will face top-seeded and #3 William Smith College on Friday at 4 p.m. in Geneva. 

In addition to McPartlon's team-best five points, senior Drew Charlton had a four-point night with two goals and two assists, and fellow senior Dana Truini added two goals and a helper. Senior Katie Julien and junior Anna Smith added a goal and an assist each, while junior Dana Nelson's second tally of the game with 3:59 remaining proved to be the game-winner.
 
Widlitz had another excellent outing in goal for Union, making seven of her 14 saves in the second half as Union held off a late comeback by the Engineers. She also stepped up when the defense needed her most, helping to survive a tightly-officiated game that saw Union assessed eight cards. The first-year made seven saves while Union was a player-down and conceded only two player-up tallies, both coming on subsequent eight-meter attempts.

The game began inauspiciously for the home team, as RPI (10-5) controlled the first two draws and scored on both possessions to take an early two-goal edge. However, the Union defense forced turnovers after the visitors won the next two draws and converted both into goals from Charlton and Smith to even the score. Maurer then grabbed the next draw and Julien scored off a feed from McPartlon to put Union up for the first time. McPartlon added another from the eight-meter arc to make it a 4-2 lead with 7:48 left in the first quarter.
 
The home team had an answer for both RPI tallies later in the frame, as Truini responded to a Megan Shay goal with one of her own and Nelson answered a Lauren DeLeo goal with a score to keep Union up by two after one quarter.
 
Union opened up its largest lead of the game by scoring the first three goals of the second stanza, with McPartlon's second of the game putting Union up 9-4. Rensselaer got one back to head into halftime down 9-5.
 
The visitors got back into the game by outscoring Union 4-1 in the third period, with only McPartlon's third of the night keeping the home team ahead. McPartlon struck again with 9:49 to go in the game to bump the lead back up to two at 11-9, but a Rylie Maready tally made it a one-goal game again with 7:42 on the clock. After turnovers by both teams, Nelson made her bid for the highlight reel with a beautiful backhander into the top corner that made it a 12-10 score with 3:59 remaining.
   
After Shay scored from the eight-meter arc to make it a one-goal game again, Union controlled the subsequent draw and ran down the 90 seconds, giving possession back to RPI with 26 ticks on the clock. The Engineers quickly cleared the ball into the offensive zone, but Molly McDonald's quick transition shot was easily stopped by Widlitz, who held onto the ball to set off a Union celerbration.

Going up against one the nation's top teams on the draw, Union more than held its own, controlling 11-of-27 draws. Sophomore Morgan Adams took many of the draws and finished with six draw controls, while Truini added four.

Union will head to Geneva on Friday to take on top-seeded William Smith. Check UnionAthletics.com later this week for a full weekend preview.