CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Sophomore Gillian Joseph led all players with a career-high eight points as the Union College women's lacrosse team remained unbeaten with an impressive 12-8 victory over #25 Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Saturday afternoon at Jack Barry Field.
 
Joseph had a huge game to lead Union (4-0) to its first win over a nationally ranked win in two seasons, matching her career-high with five goals and adding a career-best three assists while also matching the entire MIT team with five caused turnovers.
 
In addition, sophomore Maddy Schiller scored three goals, classmate Hannah Compa added two and juniors Maddie Doyle and Christina Guanci scored one apiece. Doyle also chipped in four draw controls, one fewer than senior Greta Maurer with a game-high five to go with three ground balls and a caused turnover in a well-rounded effort.
 
The game got off to a slow start for the visitors, as MIT (1-4) scored on its first possession and then added a player-down tally to take a 2-0 lead less than three minutes into the contest. Union had an answer, however, with Schiller and Doyle scoring 29 seconds apart off Joseph assists to even the score. After Joseph knotted the score at three with 8:20 on the clock, Union forced MIT into turnovers on their final six possessions of the period, while a Compa tally put the visitors up by a goal after one frame.
 
MIT outshot Union 12-7 in the second stanza, but five saves from junior Sydney Widlitz helped the Garnet Chargers post a 3-1 edge in goals to take a three-goal lead into the half. Schiller bookended the period with goals for Union, while Joseph also scored in the frame.
 
The Garnet Chargers built up their largest lead of the game midway through the third period after Joseph scored the team's third of the frame to take a 10-5 advantage with 8:23 left. MIT got back into the game by holding Union without a goal for the remainder of the third and the first nine minutes of the fourth while scoring three straight to make it a 10-8 score with 8:31 to go. Junior Claudia Patz caused a key turnover on MIT's next possession to get the ball back and eventually Joseph netted her fifth with 5:35 left to provide some more cushion. The Engineers turned the ball over on their next two possessions as well, allowing Guanci to seal the game with 1:17 left.
 
Union finished the game with a 34-27 advantage in shots. Widlitz made nine saves and limited MIT to a 1-of-6 effort from the eight-meter arc to earn the win, while Pauline Vien and Ashton Flather combined to make 15 saves to keep the Engineers in the game.
 
The Garnet Chargers return to action on Friday, when the team begins Liberty League play with a tough challenge against nationally ranked William Smith College at 4 p.m. at Frank Bailey Field at Bertagna-Class of 1985 Stadium.