SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The #8 Union College men's lacrosse team overcame a shaky second quarter to outscore Clarkson University 9-3 over the final 32 minutes and pick up the team's first Liberty League victory of the season with a 15-10 win on Sunday afternoon at Frank Bailey Field at Bertagna-Class of 1985 Stadium.
 
Senior Jake Mabardy led Union (7-0, 1-0 Liberty League) with a game-high six points, scoring two goals and dishing out four assists. Classmate Zach Davis added three goals and an assist and junior Hazen Pike netted a career-high three goals as well, while senior Michael Shaw and sophomore Emmett Lyne chipped in two goals and an assist apiece.
 
Senior Matthew Paolatto had a dominant day on faceoffs for Union, winning 27-of-29 draws with both losses coming on violations. Following his nearly perfect day, Paolatto's 75.0 percent success rate (132-for-176) this season is the highest percentage in all of NCAA lacrosse (all divisions) so far in 2024.
 
The game started well for the home team, outscoring Clarkson 6-3 in the opening frame. Davis and Mabardy both scored a pair of goals for Union and senior Peter Kip added a goal and two assists during the opening frame, but the Garnet Chargers allowed Clarkson to stay in the game by conceding goals on all three Golden Knight man-up chances.
 
Clarkson carried the momentum of its third man-up goal into the second stanza, rattling off four straight goals to take a 7-6 lead with 2:53 left on Sebastian Geiger's third of the day. However, Union turned the tide with three crucial goals in the final 1:36 of the period, with Shaw, Pike and Lyne giving the home team a 9-7 lead at the half.
 
Union kept its foot on the gas to start the third, getting goals from senior Justin Greene, Pike and Davis to build up a 12-7 lead with 8:59 to go in the frame. After the Golden Knights scored a pair of tallies to get within three, Lyne netted a key man-up goal with 1:45 remaining to send Union into the fourth up by four at 13-9. Shaw and Pike scored in the fourth quarter and senior Dan Donahue made four saves in the period to preserve the victory and move the team to 7-0 for the third time in program history (1929, 2022).
 
Union outshot Clarkson 54-45, with both Donahue and Clarkson's Griffin Emerson making 15 saves. The Garnet Chargers held a decisive 44-24 edge in ground balls and both teams went 66.7 percent on man-up situations, with Clarkson going 4-for-6 and Union converting on 2-of-3 chances.
 
Union will return to action on Tuesday when the Garnet Chargers head to Medford to battle with nationally ranked Tufts University beginning at 6 p.m.