SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The #12/9 Union College men's lacrosse team has earned an at-large berth into the 2024 NCAA Div. III Championship and will be hosting second- and third-round action on Saturday, May 11 and Sunday, May 12 at Frank Bailey Field at Bertagna-Class of 1985 Stadium.
 
GAME DETAILS: Union College will take on Stevenson University in Saturday's second game at 3:00 p.m., following the opening game that will pit #8/6 Tufts University against Illinois Wesleyan University at noon. Sunday's third-round game is scheduled for 3 p.m. between the winners of Saturday's two contests. Click here for the Tournament Central page with a visitor's guide and directions, championship information, and more.
 
TICKETS: Single-day ticket prices are $10 for adults, $5 for students with ID and $5 for children under 12. Tickets can be purchased in-person at the ticket booth at the main gate of Bertagna-Class of 1985 Stadium one hour prior to game time.
 
LIVE COVERAGE: Live video for all games this weekend will be available for free via the NCAA Championships Pass page or on Smart TVs via the NCAA Champs Pass app. To watch the game, viewers must create (or login using) a free HUDL account.  Live stats for all games will be available for free on UnionAthletics.com. Fans can also follow all the action via social media by following Union Men's Lacrosse on X and Instagram.

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY: Union is making its eighth NCAA Tournament appearance and fourth in the last five seasons. Union is 12-7 all-time in the NCAAs, including a 9-1 record at Frank Bailey Field, and has won at least one game in all seven previous appearances. Union has reached the quarterfinals three times, winning first- and second-round games in 2012 and 2014 and winning second- and third-round games in 2022. Union continued its historic run all the way to the national championship game two years ago, winning quarterfinal and semifinal games for the first time in program history before falling in the national championship game.
 
AGAINST THE OPPOSITION: Union has never played Illinois Wesleyan in any sport, while Saturday's game will be only the third competition ever between Union and Stevenson, the first two being a 2015 women's lacrosse game won by Union and a 2019 women's volleyball match won by Stevenson. Tufts holds a 3-2 edge in five meetings between the teams on the lacrosse field, with the first meeting coming in 2001. The teams met in the 2011 NCAA Tournament in the final game of current Union head coach Derek Witheford's playing career, and have faced off in each of the last three regular seasons, with the Jumbos winning the last two matchups.
 
HOW UNION GOT HERE: Union (12-5, 4-3 Liberty League) is one of two teams from this pod to receive Pool C bids into the NCAA Tournament after falling to #2 Rochester Institute of Technology in the Liberty League Tournament semifinals on Friday. All five of Union's losses this season have come to teams ranked in the top-five of Division III and the team was rewarded for its .702 strength of schedule, which ranks third in Division III behind Christopher Newport and RIT, as well as its eight games against nationally ranked opponents. No team in the country faced teams with fewer combined losses than the Garnet Chargers during the regular season.
 
UNION IN THE POLLS: Union has been ranked in every national poll this season, having been ranked as high as seventh in both the USILA and Inside Lacrosse rankings. Union has been nationally ranked by the USILA in every week during the five-year tenure of head coach Derek Witheford '11 and every week overall since April 12, 2019. Only three teams (RIT, Salisbury and Tufts) have a longer current stretch of consecutive national rankings than Union.
 
THEY'D BE HONORED: Union had seven players named to the All-Liberty League teams, announced on Tuesday. Union led all conference schools with four players named to the first team: seniors Matthew Paolatto (FO) and Zach Davis (M), junior Patrick Reilly (SSM) and sophomore John Sula (LSM). In addition, senior Peter Kip (A) was named to the second team while senior Dan Donahue (G) and sophomore Shaine Luzietti (D) earned honorable mention.
   
THE X FACTOR: Senior Matthew Paolatto has been a huge part of Union's offensive attack this season, ranking third in Division III by winning 71.1 percent of his faceoffs (300-of-422) and ranking eighth in the country by averaging 10.88 ground balls per game. He enters the NCAA Tournament as Union's single-season and career leader in both faceoff wins and ground balls, posting a 68.9 percent (750 for 1,088) success rate with 480 ground balls in 57 career games. Combined with junior Luke McHugh (18 of 33), sophomore Luke Tranter (3 of 14) and first-year Ian Evans (0 for 1), Union ranks fifth in the country in team faceoff percentage at 68.3 percent.
 
SENIOR CLASS: The 16 members of the senior class play a massive role in all aspects of the Union team this season. The offense has been heavily dominated by its seniors, with the Class of 2024 accounting for 78.5 percent of the team's goals (164 of 209) and 76.9 percent of its points (259 of 337) so far this year. The team's top-four point-getters are all in their final season, led by Peter Kip with a team-best 65 points (44 goals, 21 assists) and Michael Shaw with 38 goals and 21 assists. In addition, Matthew Paolatto has also taken 89.9 percent of the team's faceoffs and Dan Donahue has played 94.3 percent of minutes in goal for the Garnet Chargers this year.
 
CENTURY MEN: Seniors Peter Kip, Zach Davis and Jake Mabardy all have joined the list of Union's 31 career 100-point scorers this season. Kip is the team's active points leader with 93 goals and 45 assists for 138 points in 64 games and is 20th in school history in career points, two points behind Ted McKenna '12 in 19th place and four behind Kerry Lyne '20 in 18th place. Davis enters the weekend having scored 73 goals with 37 assists for 110 points in 61 games to rank 28th all-time. Mabardy became the newest member of the 100-point club with his first goal against Clarkson last Tuesday and is 30th in school history with 63 goals and 40 assists for 103 points in 55 games.
 
NEXT MAN UP: Union ranks ninth in Division III and second in the Liberty League in man-up offense, converting at a 48.9 percent success rate (23 of 47). Senior Michael Shaw leads the team with seven man-up goals on the year, followed by four each from classmates Peter Kip and Henry Quaintance.
 
ABOUT THE MUSTANGS: Stevenson (13-6, 6-1 MAC Commonwealth) captured its 10th conference title and eighth MAC Commonwealth crown with a 21-3 victory over Eastern University on Saturday. The Mustangs are making their 13th NCAA Tournament appearance this season and are back in the postseason for the first time since 2021, looking for the program's second national title (2013).
 
Stevenson boasts a potent offensive attack that ranks 10th in the country by averaging over 17 goals per game, led by Grant Zick with 35 goals and a team-best 44 assists for 79 points. Max Racich has a team-leading 50 goals with 22 assists for 72 points, and his 13 man-up goals are tied with teammate Dillon Linhardt for second in the nation's and contribute to the second-best man-up offense (48-of-87, 55.2 percent) in Division III.  Conor Halpin has won 62.7 percent (254-of-405) of his faceoffs with 171 ground balls, while Ryan Quinn leads the defense with 29 caused turnovers and 51 ground balls. Justin Scorese has started all 19 games in goal, posting a 10.21 goals against average and .463 save percentage.
 
ABOUT THE JUMBOS: Tufts (13-3, 9-1 NESCAC) earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament after a 14-13 (OT) loss to eighth-seeded Hamilton College in the NESCAC Quarterfinals on April 27. Nevertheless, Tufts is in the NCAA Tournament for the 15th straight season and the 16th time in program history. The Jumbos, who reached the national championship game for the sixth time last year, are searching for their fourth national championship after taking home the hardware in 2010, 2014 and 2015.
 
Tufts also has a fast-paced offensive attack that ranks 12th in Division III in scoring, averaging 16.81 goals per game and successfully clearing at a 90.2 percent rate to rank sixth in the country. Jack Regnery ranks ninth in the country in goals per game and 15th in points per game with 59 tallies to go with 28 assists for 87 points in 16 outings, and is one of five Jumbos with at least 31 goals on the year. Parker Merril and Victor Salcedo have essentially split faceoff duties this year and are a combined 58.7 percent (279-for-475), with Merril grabbing a team-best 92 ground balls. Joey Waldbaum has picked up 60 ground balls and caused 28 turnovers in front of Connor Garzone, who has started all 16 games in goal with a 11.27 goals against average and .518 save percentage.
 
ABOUT THE TITANS: Illinois Wesleyan (14-3, 5-0 CCIW) swept through the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin this season, winning all five conference games and taking the CCIW title with a 12-11 win over Elmhurst on Saturday. The Titans are making their sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in the 11 years of the program, with all six coming in the last seven seasons. IWU advanced to the second round with a 14-10 victory over Aurora University on Wednesday afternoon.

The Titans are another team that likes to score, entering the NCAA Tournament averaging 16.7 goals per contest to rank 11th in Division III. Gage Black paces the offensive attack with 50 goals and 20 assists for 70 points, and his 14 man-up goals are the most in Division III this season as part of a man-up offense that converts at a 44.7 percent clip. Timothy McHugh is the team's top playmaker with 35 assists along with 16 goals for 51 points. Three players have taken at least 85 faceoffs for IWU this year, with Zo Lombardo leading the team at 56.8 percent (172-for-303) and a team-best 67 ground balls. Michael Campagna leads the defensive unit with 50 ground balls and 31 caused turnovers, while Colin Tervo has played a team-best 809:23 in goal with a 11.34 goals against average and .542 save percentage.
  
WHAT'S NEXT: The winner of this weekend's pod will advance to the quarterfinal round on Saturday, May 18. The national semifinals follow at the same sites on May 19, and the Division III national championship game is set for Sunday, May 26 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. The full bracket can be viewed here.