SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Despite a career-high seven goals and nine points from senior Walker Popko, the Union College men's lacrosse team was outscored by three goals in the fourth quarter and saw its last-minute comeback fall a goal short in a 14-13 loss to Bates College in both teams' 2026 season-opener on a chilly Wednesday afternoon at Frank Bailey Field at Bertagna-Class of 1985 Stadium.
 
Popko had a massive game for Union (0-1), recording new career highs in goals, assists and points while putting 12 of his 13 shots on target – and the 13th shot rang off the crossbar. His goal and point totals are the highest for a Union player since Peter Burnes '23 had seven goals and nine points in the NCAA Tournament against Western New England University in 2022. Classmates Emmett Lyne and Mekhi Taylor netted two goals apiece, while sophomore Brendan Powers scored once and first-year Garrett Salit picked up his first collegiate tally to go with two assists.
 
Defensively, senior John Sula led all non-FOGOs with six ground balls and caused a pair of turnovers, followed by sophomore Owen Faldi with five grounders and two caused turnovers.
 
Both teams scored three times in a back-and-fourth first frame, with Union scoring at the start and at the end to even the score after 15 minutes. Powers opened the scoring with a man-up tally 1:38 into the game and Popko scored his first less than two minutes later, but Bates (1-0) rattled off three in a row before Popko beat the buzzer off a feed from Sula to make it a 3-3 score.
 
The Bobcats started the second stanza with five of the first six goals to take the game's largest lead at 8-4 with 6:15 left in the period. Union got three in a row to get back within a goal, but the visitors responded 25 seconds after a Lyne tally to regain a two-goal edge at the half.
 
The Garnet Chargers dominated play in the third period, scoring four goals in 2:24 to take an 11-9 lead into the fourth. Union outshot Bates 14-6 and won all five faceoffs in the period while junior Nick Lynch stopped all three on-target shots to give the home team a lead after 45 minutes. However, the roles were reversed in the fourth, as Bates came back with four straight goals to take back the lead at 13-11 with 7:10 remaining. Union turned the ball over on its first six possessions of the period to allow the Bobcats back into the game.
 
Taylor scored his second of the day with 2:29 left to get back within a goal, but Bates' Connor Hartman scored his third on the next possession to bump the lead back to two. Junior Kyle Goodwin forced a key turnover on the next possession that resulted in a Lyne tally with 67 ticks left, and another Bates turnover gave Union one last chance with under 30 seconds remaining. However, the Garnet Chargers could not get an on-target shot while man-up in suffering the one-goal defeat.
 
Bates finished the game with a 41-33 edge in shots, with Lynch stopping 11 shots and Bates' Andrew Toland making nine saves. Bates also held a 17-13 edge at the faceoff spot and the teams combined for 47 turnovers on the chilly February evening.
 
Union will return to action on Saturday with a 1 p.m. matchup against Babson College at Frank Bailey Field.