SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The #7 Union College men's lacrosse team fell into an early hole against #2 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and never could mount a run to get out of it, falling by a 16-12 score in a Liberty League matchup on Saturday afternoon at ECAV Stadium.
 
Senior Michael Shaw led Union (9-3, 3-2 Liberty League) with five points on three goals and two assists, while classmate Peter Kip had three goals as well. Fellow senior Matthew Paolatto had an excellent overall game for the visitors, recording a career-high four points with two goals and two assists while grabbing 11 ground balls and winning the battle of two of the nation's top faceoff men, 17-12.
 
Rensselaer (13-0, 5-0 Liberty League) was paced by Luke Murphy with a game-high six goals, while five other Engineers had two goals apiece.
 
Shaw opened the scoring for Union 2:22 into the opening period and, after an RPI equalizer, senior Justin Greene put the visitors back on top with 8:03 left in the frame. The rest of the quarter as all Engineers, however, scoring three times in 2:23 to take the lead. Senior Dan Donahue made six saves in the opening frame to keep the Garnet Chargers close.
 
The Engineers scored four of the second period's first six goals to open up an 8-4 lead with 5:34 to go.  Union regained some momentum with two goals in five seconds, as a Kip man-up tally was followed by a Paolatto faceoff win and dish to Shaw for a quick putaway. The energy did not last, however, as RPI scored a man-up tally of its own and then scored again with five seconds left to head into halftime up 10-6.
 
Union was unable to string together successful offensive possessions in the second half, as an early goal from senior Zach Davis was nullified by three RPI goals in less than three minutes to open up the largest lead of the game at 13-7 with 7:38 on the clock. The teams alternated goals for the rest of the third and well into the fourth, until Paolatto scored his second and first-year Mekhi Taylor netted his first collegiate goal with 96 seconds remaining.
 
RPI finished the game with a slight 48-46 edge in shots, with Donahue making 15 saves and RPI goalie Joseph Perry turning aside 18 attempts.
 
Union will return home next Saturday to celebrate its seniors and wrap up the home regular-season slate with a noon matchup against Vassar College.