SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College women's lacrosse team scored the final two goals of the game to shut down a comeback from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earn its first victory of the season with a 13-11 win on Saturday afternoon at Frank Bailey Field at Bertagna-Class of 1985 Stadium.
 
Four different players had three points each for Union (1-1) as part of a well-rounded offensive attack, led by seniors Maddie Doyle and Christina Guanci and junior Maddy Schiller with three goals apiece – all on a combined 11 shots. Junior Gillian Joseph added two goals and an assist, while senior Sammy Johnson and sophomore Stella Del Papa also scored for the home team.
 
Defensively, senior Sydney Widlitz came up with 11 big saves, and in front of her sophomore Kate Loughney caused five turnovers and junior Anna Dembowski grabbed four ground balls with two caused miscues.
 
The game started slowly for the Garnet Chargers, as Union managed only three shots in the opening 15 minutes and found itself down by two goals. The Engineers scored the first three tallies of the game to match their largest lead with 2:16 left in the first, but Joseph got Union on the board while player-up with 1:45 left to make it a 3-1 game after one period.
 
Union found its offensive rhythm in the second stanza, posting a 13-5 edge in shots and outscoring MIT (1-1) by a 5-2 margin to knot the score at six headed into halftime. After MIT scored two of the first three goals to take a 5-2 advantage, the home team rattled off four in a row to take the lead for the first time. Doyle got the run started with 5:29 left, followed by a Del Papa score with 3:15 to go and back-to-back Guanci goals that made it a 6-5 score before MIT evened things up in the final seconds.
 
Union outscored MIT 7-5 the rest of the way, but the difference in the second half was the goalies: MIT put 11 shots on target but Widlitz came up with seven huge saves, while Union only put six shots on frame but all six found the back of the net.
 
After the teams traded goals to start the frame, Union looked to pull away with four goals, started off by a long run up the field by Johnson, who cleared the ball herself and then received a give-and-go feed from classmate Lana Mickelson for a pretty putaway. Schiller scored less than a minute later to double the lead, and both Joseph and Doyle followed to make it a 11-7 score.
 
The Engineers did not go quietly, however, scoring four in a row of their own to even the game midway through the fourth frame. But the defense tightened up for Union when needed the most, as Loughney caused turnovers on back-to-back possessions and Widlitz made a key stop right before Schiller netted the go-ahead goal with 4:29 remaining. Guanci added an insurance goal with 3:14 on the clock after a MIT miscue, and another Loughney CT and Widlitz denial helped to seal the win from there.
 
MIT finished the afternoon with a slight 27-24 edge in shots, but Widlitz's seven second-half saves proved to be the difference. Union's 12 caused turnovers also helped to negate the Engineers' 15-9 edge on the draw.
 
Union will return to action on Wednesday with a 4 p.m. matchup at SUNY Brockport.