BEVERLY, Mass. – The #12/13 Union College men's lacrosse team outscored Endicott College 6-1 in the second quarter to take the lead and held off a determined Gulls squad in the second half to pull out a 14-12 victory in non-conference action on Wednesday evening at Hempstead Stadium.
 
Several Garnet Chargers had excellent games on the offensive end, led by senior Peter Kip with a game-high four goals. Classmate Jake Mabardy led all players with a career-best six points on three goals and three assists, while fellow senior Michael Shaw chipped in three goals and two helpers.
 
On the defensive end, junior Patrick Reilly grabbed six ground balls and caused a turnover in the midfield, while senior Jack Thompson and sophomore Shaine Luzietti combined for five caused turnovers and five ground balls from the defense position.  
 
The visitors jumped to an early 4-1 lead at the midway point of the opening period after Kip opened the scoring and Mabardy followed with three goals in 100 seconds to build up the three-goal edge. However, Endicott came back with a 4-1 run of its own to knot the score at five after 15 minutes.
 
Momentum swung back the other way in the second stanza, as Union scored five of the period's six goals to take an 11-6 lead into halftime. After the teams traded goals in the first three minutes, the Garnet Chargers rattled off five straight to close the period, led by three goals from Kip and one each by senior Zach Davis and sophomore Emmett Lyne. The visitors outshot the home team 19-8 in the period and senior Dan Donahue made four saves to build up the lead.
 
Endicott started the third quarter with three straight goals and held Union off the scoreboard for over 12 minutes to get back in the contest, but goals by Shaw and Davis late in the frame halted the momentum temporarily and gave the Garnet Chargers a 13-9 lead after 45 minutes.
 
The Gulls again scored three in a row to get back within a goal at 13-12 with 5:39 on the clock, but Donahue made saves on the home team's next two possessions and Lyne responded with a clutch goal off a great feed by classmate Archie McEvoy to provide an insurance tally with 3:44 remaining. Thompson then caused a turnover on the next possession to give Union a chance to take more time off the clock and help to seal the victory.
 
Union finished the game with a 49-44 edge in shots and also limited the turnovers to just 11 while posting a 39-29 edge in ground balls. Donahue made 10 saves on the day to pick up the win, while Tim Luciano turned aside 19 shots to keep the Gulls in the game.
 
Union will continue non-conference play on Saturday with a 4 p.m. matchup at Springfield College.