SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – First-year Luke Allen scored a season-high four goals and senior Walker Popko added three goals and an assist to lead the Union College men's lacrosse team to a huge 12-10 victory over #15/20 Skidmore College in a Liberty League matchup on Wednesday afternoon at Frank Bailey Field at Bertagna-Class of 1985 Stadium.
 
The win is a big one for Union (5-10, 3-2 Liberty League) in the race for the postseason, as the Garnet Chargers move all the way up into a four-way tie for second place with Skidmore (10-3, 3-2 Liberty League), St. Lawrence University and Rochester Institute of Technology with two games remaining.
 
Allen continued his excellent rookie season with a season-best four goals on four shots to go with three ground balls. Popko scored three times and senior Emmett Lyne had a pair of key fourth-quarter tallies to help the Garnet Chargers put away the Thoroughbreds. On the defensive end, sophomore Luke Foster and senior Chris Weitzel combined for nine ground balls and seven caused turnovers as part of a stout defensive effort, while junior goalie Nick Lynch recorded 13 saves.
 
The home team scored on its first two possessions to take an early lead on goals by Popko and Allen just 28 seconds apart. Union went over 10 minutes without a goal after that, during which time Skidmore scored three times, before sophomore Mac McGovern evened the score at three with 2:35 left in the opening frame.
 
The Thoroughbreds grabbed their last lead of the day at 4-3 toward the midpoint of the second stanza, but Union came back with a pair of goals from Allen to provide the last lead change of the day and take a 5-4 advantage into halftime. Lynch made eight saves in the first half to keep his team in front at intermission.
 
Skidmore tied the game early in the third quarter and the teams went over six minutes without a score, as two Lynch saves and three Skidmore turnovers helped keep the game tied until sophomore Brendan Powers scored from distance with 6:15 left to put Union ahead for good. Popko added a man-up tally 110 seconds later to double the lead headed into the fourth.
 
The visitors got back within a goal on four separate occasions during a high-scoring fourth frame, but each time Union had an answer to keep the Thoroughbreds at bay. Foster had a key caused turnover that led to a transition tally by Allen with 11:48 left to make the score 8-6, and senior John Sula caused a failed clear that resulted in a Lyne score to again bump the lead to two at 9-7 with 9:05 left. First-year Hayden Caulkins scored from Popko to make the score 10-8 with 6:28 remaining, and Union finally found some distance a few minutes later when Popko and Lyne scored 38 seconds apart to make it a 12-9 game with 2:13 left.
 
Union finished the afternoon with a 51-39 edge in shots and were nearly perfect on clears (22 of 23). After some early struggles, senior Luke Tranter finished the day 14-of-23 (60.8 percent) on faceoff attempts and grabbed a game-high six ground balls as well.
 
Union will continue the stretch run on Saturday when the team heads to #13/13 Rochester Institute of Technology for a noon matchup with the Tigers.