SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College men's lacrosse team will take part in the Liberty League Tournament semifinals for the seventh time in the last eight years on Friday when the fourth-seeded Garnet Chargers travel to top-seeded and #17/18 Ithaca College for a 4 p.m. matchup at Higgins Stadium.
Union (7-11, 4-3 Liberty League) earned its spot in the semifinals with a 13-9 victory over fifth-seeded Skidmore College in Tuesday's first round, while Ithaca (11-5, 6-1 Liberty League) received a bye into the semifinals. The winner of Friday's game advances to the championship round against the winner of second-seeded St. Lawrence University and third-seeded Rochester Institute of Technology.
POSTSEASON HISTORY: Union is making its 16th postseason appearance in the last 18 years and is 10-14 all-time in Liberty League Tournament play, reaching the championship game on seven occasions (2008, 2011-12, 2014-15, 2019, 2023) and capturing one conference tournament title in 2011.
UNION VS. THE BOMBERS: Union is 8-4 in 12 all-time meetings against Ithaca, but the Bombers have taken the last two contests. Friday's game will be the first postseason contest between the two squads.
LAST MEETING: Ithaca escaped Schenectady with a 9-8 victory in the team's regular-season matchup on April 4. Union was led by senior
Walker Popko with a game-high three goals and four points, while first-years
Garrett Salit and
Luke Allen had two goals each. The home team nearly completed a comeback from three goals down with just over three minutes remaining, but a shot in the final seconds was stopped and the Bombers held on for the one-goal win.
A TOUGH ROAD: Union's 2026 opponents so far have a combined winning percentage of .638 (169-96), ranking as the 12th-toughest schedule in Division III this season. Among Liberty League schools, only RIT and St. Lawrence have a better combined opponents' winning percentage. Of the team's 11 losses this season, six have come by one goal and two more have been by two scores.
READY TO POP: Senior
Walker Popko has put together an excellent two seasons in Schenectady since transferring from Stony Brook University, netting 79 goals with 26 assists for 105 points in just 32 games. He enters the weekend with 45 goals and 18 assists to his credit this season, ranking second in the conference in goals and fourth in points. Popko currently holds sole possession of eighth on the school single-season goals list, and is three goals away from moving up into fourth place on the school single-season ledger.
SALIT IS ELITE: Four-time Liberty League Rookie of the Week
Garrett Salit has made an immediate impact as a first-year, ranking second on the team in points with 31 goals and a team-leading 28 assists. Salit leads all Liberty League rookies in goals, assists and points this season, and is also one of just six Liberty League players overall this season to record at least 25 goals and 25 assists. He became the school's all-time first-year points leader with his five goals and two assists on Tuesday against Skidmore, and is three goals away from surpassing Nate Fitch '93 HOF '13 for the program first-year points standard as well.
ONE-TWO PUNCH: Salit and classmate
Luke Allen are the most proficient one-two rookie punch in the Liberty League this season, ranking first and third, respectively, in first-year scoring. The pair are the first duo of first-year players in program history to both score at least 25 goals in the same season, having combined for 93 points so far this year on 57 goals and 36 assists.
LENDING A HAND: Union ranks sixth in the conference by averaging 11.33 goals per game, but the Garnet Chargers rank second among conference schools by dishing out an average of 7.22 assists per contest.
THE X FACTOR: Senior
Luke Tranter leads all Liberty League players with 231 faceoff wins this season and has won 56.6 percent of his draws on the year while ranking fifth with 97 ground balls. He is just the third Union player to record at least 200 faceoff wins in a season, joining Matthew Paolatto '24 (2023, 2024) and Connor Hall '15 (2015), and ranks fourth on the school single-season wins list.
ABOUT THE BOMBERS: Ithaca earned the Liberty League regular-season championship for the first time in 2026 and enters the postseason winners of six of its last seven games. The Bombers rank seventh in the conference in scoring at 11.25 goals per game, but Tim Rogers paces the conference in scoring average with 40 goals in 14 contests (2.86 gpg) and has added 10 assists for an even 50 points on the year.
The defense ranks 29th in the country by allowing 8.25 goals per outing, led by goalie Andrew Minard and his 9.48 goals against average and .530 save percentage. Jace Dockx heads up the defensive effort with 30 ground balls and 20 caused turnovers.
The Bombers also excel at the faceoff X, leading the conference and ranking 24th nationally by winning 64.8 percent of their draws. Liam Alberti paces the Liberty League with a .668 winning percentage and 124 ground balls picked up this year.
WHAT'S NEXT: The winner of Friday's game will advance to the Liberty League Tournament finals against RIT or St. Lawrence at the highest remaining seed.
2026 Liberty League Men's Lacrosse Tournament
First Round – Tuesday, April 28
#4 Union College 13, #5 Skidmore College 9
Semifinals – Friday, May 1 (all games at higher seeds)
#4 Union at #1 Ithaca, 4:00 p.m.
#3 RIT at #2 St. Lawrence, 4:00 p.m.
Championship – Sunday, May 3 (at higher seed)
Two Remaining Teams, TBA
