SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The #8 Union College men's lacrosse team outscored Ithaca College 8-2 over the middle two frames to pull away and earn a 12-7 Liberty League victory on Saturday afternoon at Frank Bailey Field at Bertagna-Class of 1985 Stadium.
 
Senior Peter Kip paced the Union (8-2, 2-1 Liberty League) attack with a game-high five points, scoring four goals and adding an assist. Classmate Justin Greene also had a hat trick and fellow senior Jake Mabardy chipped in three points of his own with a goal and two helpers. Juniors Hazen Pike (two goals) and Patrick Reilly (two assists) added multi-point games of their own, while seniors Michael Shaw and Zach DiMuccio added a goal apiece.
 
Senior Matthew Paolatto had another excellent game, winning 21-of-23 faceoffs and grabbing 17 ground balls, while sophomore Shaine Luzietti led the defensive unit with four ground balls and two caused turnovers.
 
The offense was working well to start the day for the Garnet Chargers, scoring on three of their first four possessions. Kip opened the scoring off a Mabardy feed 97 seconds into the game, followed by DiMuccio's first collegiate tally with 11:07 left and Pike finding the net from Kip 38 seconds later. Ithaca (6-5, 0-3 Liberty League) settled down defensively after that and scored the final two goals of the frame from Charlie Niebuhr and Jack Pastore.
 
Union returned to form in the second stanza, outscoring Ithaca by a 4-1 margin. Greene started a run of four straight home-team tallies with a pair of goals less than three minutes apart, followed by scores from Kip and Shaw off Reilly feeds. The Garnet Chargers put together another 4-1 run in the third quarter to build up their largest lead of the game at 11-4 after a Mabardy goal with 5:20 left in the period before taking the foot off the gas in the fourth quarter, getting one goal from Kip while spreading the playing time around the roster.
 
Union finished the afternoon with a 55-27 advantage in shots and a decisive 45-18 edge in ground balls, thanks to Paolatto's 21-2 record on faceoffs. The Garnet Chargers also had their best transition game of the season, successfully clearing 20-of-22 chances.
 
Union will return to action on Wednesday with a 5 p.m. conference clash against Skidmore College in Schenectady.