ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The third-seeded and #17 Union College men's lacrosse team got off to a slow start and cound never recover in a 18-9 defeat at the hands of top-seeded and #3 Rochester Institute of Technology in the championship game of the Liberty League Tournament on Sunday afternoon at Tiger Stadium.
 
The win gives RIT (18-1) its 11th straight Liberty League title and an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Union (11-6), which entered the week fourth in the NCAA Region II rankings, will await a potential at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
Nine different players had one goal each for the visitors, who struggled to get good looks offensively until the game was mostly out of reach. Senior Clint Gourdeau recorded his first goal of the season and also led the team defensively with four caused turnovers.
 
Junior Clayton Arcuri got Union on the board with 11:02 remaining in the first quarter to knot the score at one, but six Union turnovers nullified many of their offensive chances and the Tigers scored the final four goals of the opening frame to take a 5-1 lead. The home team continued to extend their run in the second stanza, scoring six unanswered tallies to take an 11-1 edge into the half; Union turned the ball over seven times in the period.
 
Junior Zach Davis finally ended the RIT string of goals at 12 with a tally midway through the third quarter, which was followed by Gourdeau's first of the year before four straight Tiger tallies ended the frame.
 
Six different players found the net for Union in the fourth quarter, as Union continued to battle. Junior Finn Garrity recorded his second goal of the year to start the period, followed by the seventh of the season from sophomore Matt Blasi. Senior Gray Humphrey netted his first of the season and juniors Nolan Flood and Henry Quaintance both scored their second goals of 2023, while first-year Matt McKenzie ended the scoring with his first collegiate tally.
 
Shots finished 49-41 in favor of RIT. Junior Matthew Paolatto won 10-of-16 draws and grabbed a game-high seven ground balls before giving way to sophomore Luke McHugh, who won 6-of-10 efforts at the X, and first-year Luke Tranter, who split his four faceoffs. Junior Dan Donahue made seven saves and allowed 11 goals in the first half, while first-year Gavin Trahan made four saves on 11 shots in the second half.
 
Union will learn its postseason fate tonight at approximately 9 p.m. when the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Selection Show is aired on NCAA.com.