SAINT LEO, Fla. – #16/17 Middlebury College scored the only three goals of the decisive fourth quarter to pull away for an 11-8 victory over the Union College men's lacrosse team in a Spring Break matchup at Saint Leo University's Jody Luihn Family Field on Tuesday afternoon.
 
Junior Nick Lynch had an excellent game in goal for Union (1-9), turning aside 18 shots to keep his team in the game. First-year Garrett Salit led the offense with three goals and an assist, followed by classmate Luke Allen with a pair of tallies.
 
Middlebury (5-2) was led by Will Ford with a goal and five assists for a game-high six points, as well as Logan White with a team-leading three goals.
 
The Panthers doubled up Union 12-6 in shot attempts in the first quarter of play, but the Garnet Chargers had the better result on the scoreboard with a 3-2 lead. Salit responded to Middlebury goals with ones of his own to keep the game tied at two later in the frame before first-year Hayden Caulkins gave Union its first lead at 3-2 with 2:00 on the clock. Lynch had three saves in the opening frame for Union.
 
Both teams scored twice in the second stanza, as the Panthers regained their one-goal lead with back-to-back tallies only to see senior Walker Popko even the score less than two minutes later and sophomore Brendan Powers put the Garnet Chargers back up by a goal with 3:41 left. Union went into the half with a 5-4 advantage thanks to seven saves from Lynch and a perfect 12-of-12 effort on clearing attempts.
 
The momentum swung Middlebury's way to start the third quarter, with the Panthers scoring four straight goals to take an 8-5 lead at the midway point of the frame. But Union responded with three straight goals to even the score at eight, with Salit starting the run and Allen netting back-to-back scores to make it a new game headed into the fourth.
 
After making six saves in the third quarter, Lynch did all he could with five more stops in the fourth quarter, but Middlebury outshot Union by an 11-3 margin in the final frame and scored three unanswered goals to take the win.
 
Middlebury outshot Union by a 47-26 margin overall on the afternoon, while also posting a big 36-19 edge in ground balls and winning 18-of-23 faceoffs.
 
Union will return north and return to Liberty League play on Saturday with a matchup at Capital Region rival Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at noon in Troy.