SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Union College men's lacrosse team went scoreless over the final 9:23 of the game to allow Springfield College to mount a fourth-quarter comeback and defeat the Garnet Chargers by a 9-8 score on Thursday afternoon at Stagg Field.
 
Senior Emmett Lyne recorded a game-high three goals and four points and classmate Walker Popko added two goals and a helper for Union (0-3), which once again started out strong but could not string together four good quarters.
 
The Garnet Chargers dominated play for much of the opening quarter, holding a 13-4 edge in shots and a large advantage in possession; however, the visitors only led by a goal at 3-2 after 15 minutes. Lyne opened the scoring 2:05 into the game, and senior Josh Robertson took a feed from Lyne 1:32 later and deposited his first collegiate tally to put Union up by a pair. Junior Mekhi Taylor scored with 5:47 left sandwiched around two Springfield tallies to keep Union in the lead, but Springfield goalie Ian Cote made eight saves in the first frame to keep his team in the game.
 
The play was more even in the second stanza, with both teams scoring twice and the Pride getting the better of the shot totals by a 14-9 margin. First-year Garrett Salit regained Union's two-goal edge early in the quarter before a pair of Springfield scores knotted the game with 6:51 left. Lyne put the Garnet Chargers back on top headed into halftime with his second of the afternoon with 1:08 left.
 
Senior Luke Tranter won eight of his 11 faceoffs and grabbed a game-high four ground balls in the opening 30 minutes, while junior Nick Lynch made three saves and Cote was forced to make 13 stops to prevent Union from running away.
 
The third quarter brought more of the same close play, as Springfield outscored Union by a 3-2 margin to set up a pivotal final frame. Goals by Lyne and Popko kept Union in the lead for much of the frame until a late goal by the Pride evened the score at seven after 45 minutes.
 
Lynch made two key saves early in the fourth quarter to keep the game tied and Popko scored his second of the day from long distance to put the visitors up 8-7 with 9:24 remaining, but missed opportunities haunted Union the rest of the way. The visitors forced turnovers on Springfield's next three possessions to keep the lead at one, but the offense could not extend the lead and the Pride eventually evened the score with 5:13 on the clock. After a missed opportunity while man-up, the home team scored again to take its first lead of the afternoon with 3:11 remaining. Union's last three possessions ended in turnovers as well, as the visitors turned the ball over 10 times in total in the fourth frame and 23 times on the day.
 
Tranter had an excellent day at the X for Union, winning 15-of-21 faceoffs and grabbing a game-best eight grounders. Sophomore Owen Faldi led the defensive unit with four ground balls and two caused turnovers, while Lynch ended the day with eight saves. Cote finished with 20 saves to win the game for the Pride.
 
Union will continue its three-game road trip on Sunday with a matchup at two-time defending national champion #1 Tufts University at 3 p.m.