SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Senior Justin Greene scored a game-high five goals, including back-to-back tallies during a game-changing 3-0 run late in the fourth quarter, to lead the #11/13 Union College men's lacrosse team to a hard-fought 14-13 victory over #20/20 Babson College in Union's 2024 season-opener on Sunday afternoon at Frank Bailey Field at Bertagna-Class of 1985 Stadium.
 
Greene had a huge game to lead Union (1-0), netting three of his career-best five tallies on eight shots. Classmate Michael Shaw matched his career high with a game-best seven points, scoring four goals and adding a game-best three assists. Fellow senior Zach Davis chipped in two goals and an assist, while senior Jake Mabardy, junior Archie McEvoy and sophomore Emmett Lyne added one goal apiece.
 
Babson (1-1) was paced by Seamus Rooney with four goals and one assist, followed by Luke D'Orsi with three goals and Jacob Tauss with a pair of tallies.
 
At the other end of the field, senior Dan Donahue made 11 saves, including a stop in the final 30 seconds to keep Union ahead, and senior Jack Thompson led the defense with three ground balls and a caused turnover. Fellow senior Matthew Paolatto also was instrumental in the win, winning 19-of-29 faceoffs and scooping up a game-high 10 ground balls.
 
Shaw opened the scoring with a man-up tally 4:13 into the contest, but the Beavers came back with two in a row to grab the lead for the first time. The Garnet Chargers responded with four straight tallies, led by a goal and two assists from Shaw, to take a 5-2 lead before a late Rooney tally got Babson within two after 15 minutes.
 
Union started the second stanza with goals from Greene and Shaw to take the largest lead of the game at 7-3; however, the Beavers scored the final goal of a low-scoring second period and then netted the first three of the third to knot the score at seven with 8:40 left in the third. Goals from Greene and Davis 1:06 apart put Union back on top, and the home team fended off Babson for the next eight minutes before the visitors rattled off three straight goals to take back the lead at 12-11 with 8:08 on the clock.
 
After the teams traded turnovers, Donahue came up with a big stop on Christian Brofft and Greene came back down the other end to tie the score with 4:42 left. The next possession followed a similar script, as Donahue denied Rooney and Greene scored again to put Union ahead by a goal with 2:29 on the clock. Paolatto then came up with a big faceoff win that was scooped up by junior Patrick Reilly and McEvoy provided a huge insurance goal with 1:31 left.
 
That goal proved to be massive as Grey Sunderland won the ensuing faceoff and fed D'Orsi for a score just six seconds later. The tandem of Paolatto and Reilly got possession back for Union on the next draw, but a double-team off a timeout forced a turnover and gave Babson a last chance. Donahue denied Rooney from long range coming out of a timeout, and after a pushing call gave the Beavers a final bit of hope, the visitors could not get off a shot in the final five seconds to finish off the game.
 
Union finished with a 44-32 edge in shots on the afternoon. Special teams played a huge role in the win, as Union went 3-for-5 on the man advantage while not providing Babson a single man-up chance at the other end.
 
Union will play its next three contests away from home, beginning on Wednesday with a matchup at Endicott College set for a 4 p.m. start.