SPARKS, Md. – Senior Peter Kip led all players with six points and scored three of his four goals in the fourth quarter to help the #8 Union College men's lacrosse team to an 11-9 victory over #19 Middlebury College in a non-conference matchup at US Lacrosse Hall of Fame's Tierney Field on Wednesday night.
 
Kip had a big game for Union (6-0), matching classmate Michael Shaw and Middlebury's William Ryan for the game high in goals. Sophomore Matt McKenzie dished out a career-best five assists to help the offensive effort, while senior Zach Davis chipped in two goals and sophomore Emmett Lyne scored once.
 
The faceoff unit performed well once again for the Garnet Chargers, with senior Matthew Paolatto winning 16-of-24 draws and grabbing eight ground balls. Sophomore John Sula and junior Patrick Reilly performed well on the wings, with Sula gobbling up five ground balls, Reilly picking up four, and both players causing two turnovers.
 
In a game where shots were relatively even at 38-36 in favor of Union, senior Dan Donahue made a difference in goal with 15 saves, compared to five for Middlebury's Hayden Kern.
 
After Middlebury opened the scoring 2:01 into the game, Shaw responded with his first of the day 63 seconds later to tie the score. After eight minutes of scoreless action, Shaw gave Union its first lead of the night with 4:39 remaining; however, two goals gave the Panthers a 3-2 lead after 15 minutes.
 
Donahue made six saves to keep Middlebury off the scoreboard in the second stanza, with goals by Kip and Lyne putting the Garnet Chargers up 4-3 at the half.
 
Middlebury scored the first three goals of the third quarter as the Union offense stalled for the first 10 minutes. But the team woke up over the final 4:07 with a trio of tallies, first from Davis and then two in a row from Shaw to make it a 7-6 score headed to the fourth.
 
Davis got the scoring started on the team's opening possession of the fourth and Union had an answer for every Panther tally the rest of the way. Kip regained the two-goal lead with 11:35 left, and after Middlebury got back within one with 5:36 left, Kip ripped back-to-back tallies to put the game away with less than 100 seconds remaining.
 
Union will return north to begin Liberty League play on Saturday with a 1 p.m. matchup against Clarkson University at Frank Bailey Field at Bertagna-Class of 1985 Stadium.