SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College men's lacrosse team battled hard against #3 Rochester Institute of Technology on Saturday afternoon, but the Garnet Chargers could not pull off an upset to end the season as the home team fell by a 13-6 score on Senior Day at Frank Bailey Field at Bertagna-Class of 1985 Stadium.
 
Sophomore Mike Wall scored a game-high three goals and senior Peter Kip dished out a game-best three assists for Union (4-10, 2-5 Liberty League), but they were the only Garnet Chargers with more than one point on the day. Michael Finneran scored three goals and added an assist for a game-high four points to lead RIT (16-1, 7-0 Liberty League).
 
The Tigers seemed poised to run away with the game early, scoring the first five goals of the contest to take a 5-0 lead with 3:44 left in the opening frame. But Union found a spark in the final minute, getting a goal from sophomore Mekhi Taylor with 45 seconds remaining and then adding a last-second strike by Wall off a beautiful feed from Kip to make it a 5-2 game after 15 minutes.
 
Union carried that momentum into the second stanza, getting two more from Wall to complete his personal 3-0 run and get the Garnet Chargers back within a goal at 5-4. The energy could not be sustained, however, as RIT outscored Union 3-1 to get to halftime with an 8-5 edge and then scored five of the second half's six goals to finish off the win.
 
RIT only managed a slight 49-45 edge in shots on the day, and sophomore Nick Lynch turned aside 19 shots to keep his team close. Union also won 14-of-22 faceoffs, with senior Luke McHugh and junior Luke Tranter both winning seven draws.
 
Saturday's game is the final contest for Union's 13 seniors: Kip, McHugh, Matt Blasi, Chris Connolly, Matt Dussault, Seamus Foley, Jason Koch, Shaine Luzietti, Archie McEvoy, Liam McGovern, Hazen Pike, Henry Quaintance and Patrick Reilly. The group were a part of three NCAA Tournaments, including a run to the national championship game in 2022, and will graduate as the fourth-winningest class in Union lacrosse history with 46 wins over four years.