SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Senior Peter Kip led all players with four goals and two assists for six points and classmate Dan Donahue made 10 of his 15 saves in the second half to lead #12/13 Union College past Springfield College by a 13-12 score in non-conference men's lacrosse action on Saturday evening at Stagg Field.
 
Six different players scored for Union (3-0), with Kip scoring on all four on-target shot attempts for his second straight four-goal outing and the highest point output of his career. A trio of classmates also had four points each: Jake Mabardy netted three goals with a helper, while both Zach Davis and Michael Shaw recorded two goals and two assists apiece.
 
Senior Matthew Paolatto had another excellent game at the faceoff X as well, winning 18-of-24 draws and grabbing nine ground balls.
 
Springfield came out of the gates strong on Saturday, following up a goal by Mabardy with four straight tallies to take a 4-1 lead at the midpoint of the opening period. Union tied the game with a 4-1 run of its own, scoring twice in the first quarter and then adding the first two goals of the second stanza from Kip and classmate Justin Greene. The Pride took back the lead with 9:42 left, but Kip scored 12 seconds later to tie the score and sophomore Matt McKenzie netted his second career goal 1:22 later to give Union a 7-6 lead. Two Springfield goals later in the period put the Pride up 8-7 at the half.
 
Special teams proved to be very important for Union in the third quarter. The Garnet Chargers went 3-for-3 on man-up opportunities in the frame to take back the lead, getting goals from Shaw, Davis and Kip. After Springfield battled back to tie the score at 10, Donahue came up huge during a late two-minute man-down situation, making four saves to keep the game even headed into the fourth frame.
 
Paolatto won the opening faceoff of the fourth and Union immediately took the lead back with Kip's fourth tally of the game. Donahue came up with another key save on the Pride's first possession and the visitors scored again on the second of the day from Davis to build up a two-goal edge. Donahue made two more clutch stops on another two-minute penalty later in the quarter to keep the score at 12-10, but a two-player disadvantage allowed the Pride to get back within a goal with 7:46 remaining.
 
The teams scored once each over the next four minutes to keep it a one-goal game with 3:27 to go. Springfield had a chance to tie the score with 90 seconds left after a Union turnover, but Donahue stood tall with two more stops to keep his team in front. A forced miscue gave the Pride one more opportunity with 16 seconds left, but a good look went wide and senior Jack Thompson forced a turnover in the final second to help the Garnet Chargers survive.
 
After making five saves in the first half, Donahue made five saves in both the third and fourth quarters to pick up the victory. Kaden Quirk made five saves for Springfield in a losing effort.
 
Union will continue non-conference play on Wednesday with a matchup at Williams College beginning at 6:30 p.m.