SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Junior Greta Maurer led all players with four goals and three assists for a career-high seven points to lead the third-seeded Union College women's lacrosse team to a thrilling 18-15 victory over the sixth-seeded University of Rochester in the first round of the Liberty League Tournament on a rainy Tuesday night at Frank Bailey Field at Bertagna-Class of 1985 Stadium.
 
The game was delayed nearly two hours due to weather, but it was worth the wait for Union (11-5), which advances to the Liberty League semifinals to take on second-seeded and #7 William Smith College on Friday afternoon in Geneva. The Herons defeated St. Lawrence University by a 19-6 score in first-round action on Tuesday.
 
Maurer had a massive all-around effort to lead Union, scoring a career-high four goals with three assists while also grabbing three ground balls and controlling four draws. First-years Gillian Joseph and Maddy Schiller both had excellent games as well in their postseason debuts, with Joseph recording four goals with two assists and Schiller going for three goals and three helpers. Senior Dana Nelson also scored twice, controlled a game-high seven draws and caused two turnovers for the Garnet Chargers as well.
 
After the first three frames were mostly evenly played, Union won the game by closing on an 8-2 run over the final 18:09 of the contest. The home team trailed 13-10 with 6:16 remaining the third, but started its comeback with two goals in the final 3:09 of the frame from Joseph and senior Audrey Larson to get back within a goal.
 
Union kept up the momentum with the first four goals of the fourth frame to match its largest lead of the day. The Garnet Chargers controlled the opening draw and Maurer deposited her second of the game 1:32 into the period to knot the score at 13. The junior then scored two more goals 2:08 apart to increase the lead to two, and Schiller followed with her second of the day to make the score 16-13 with 6:35 on the clock. Rochester's Anna Rogers made things interesting with two goals to get the Yellow Jackets within one with 3:03 left, but Maurer controlled the subsequent draw and Joseph found Schiller for the dagger with 2:02 remaining.
 
Maurer again got control of the draw and allowed Union to run out the rest of the clock, with sophomore Lana Mickelson putting an exclamation point on the night with a last-second tally.
 
The teams traded leads on five occasions in the opening 30 minutes of play, with neither side leading by more than two goals at any time. Rochester used a 4-0 run spanning the second and third quarters to take its largest lead of the game at 11-8 with 2:49 gone by in the third, but Union managed to stay in the game until the offense heated up late.
 
Union finished the game with a 33-25 edge in shots and a 22-14 advantage in draw controls, as well as nearly doubling up Rochester in ground balls, 17-9.
 
Check UnionAthletics.com later this week for a preview of the conference semifinals as the Garnet Chargers head to Geneva to face the Herons.