PITTSFORD, N.Y. – Senior
Jake Mabardy recorded a career-high six points and classmate
Dan Donahue turned aside 17 shots to lead the #9/8 Union College men's lacrosse team to an 11-6 victory over St. John Fisher College in non-conference action on Wednesday evening at Growney Stadium.
Mabardy and classmate
Peter Kip combined for seven goals to pace the offensive attack for Union (11-3), with Mabardy chipping in four goals and Kip netting three. Both players also had two assists on the day, matching fellow senior
Michael Shaw for the team lead, and senior
Henry Quaintance added a pair of goals as well for the visitors.
Donahue had one of his best games of the year at the other end of the field, conceding a season-low six goals. He was helped out defensively by junior
Patrick Reilly with five ground balls and two caused turnovers.
The two teams went over eight minutes before the first goal of the game off the stick of sophomore
Emmett Lyne with 6:54 remaining in the first. Mabardy and senior
Zach Davis scored as well for the visitors in the opening frame before a goal got the Cardinals back within two after one quarter. The Union defense held St. John Fisher (9-7) off the scoreboard for almost the entirety of the second stanza before a last-second goal by Sean Donaldson nullified a Kip tally earlier in the period and sent the teams into the half with Union holding a 4-2 advantage.
The Garnet Charger offense came alive in the third quarter, scoring five times to open up its largest lead of the game. After the teams traded goals early, Union ran off four straight tallies – three in a row from Mabardy and one from Quaintance – to build up a 9-3 lead before a late Fisher tally decreased the lead to five after 45 minutes. The visitors were content to trade goals in the fourth quarter, with Quaintance and Kip countering SJFC scores to keep the advantage comfortable.
Union finished the evening with a slight 32-30 edge in shots, but Donahue's 17 saves provided the difference in the win.
Union will return to the Rochester area to close out the regular season on Saturday with a Liberty League matchup against #2 Rochester Institute of Technology beginning at 1 p.m.
