SALISBURY, Md. – The Union College women's lacrosse team put a scare into #3 Salisbury University in the first quarter but the Garnet Chargers could not sustain their early momentum in a 17-9 loss to the Sea Gulls in the second round of the NCAA Division III Championship on a warm Sunday afternoon at Sea Gull Stadium.
Senior
Christina Guanci led Union (14-7) with four points, scoring three goals on three shots and adding an assist to become the 33rd player in program history – and third this season – to reach 100 points for a career. Junior
Gillian Joseph scored three goals to move into second place on the school's single-season goals (69) and points (86) list, while classmate
Maddy Schiller had a goal and two helpers to finish eighth and fifth on the single-season goals (60) and points (81) lists, respectively.
Senior
Lana Mickelson added two goals and an assist for the visitors as well to give her 51 points on the year, marking the first time in program history that four Union players recorded 50 or more points in a season. The senior also caused three turnovers, controlled three draws and grabbed two ground balls in a great all-around effort.
Senior
Sydney Widlitz had an excellent effort in goal for Union, making 11 saves to keep Union in the game and limiting Salisbury to under 50 percent (5 of 11) from the eight-meter arc. She finished the season with a career-high 160 saves, ranking eighth on the school single-season ledger, in addition to graduating as Union's all-time leader in career saves and wins.
Union got off to a fantastic start on Sunday, scoring on its first three shots to take a 3-0 lead at the midway point of the opening quarter thanks to tallies from Joseph, Schiller and Guanci. After Salisbury scored their first of the day, Widlitz made two saves and Mickelson scored from the eight-meter arc to regain the three-goal edge with 4:50 left. Despite two late Sea Gull goals, Union held a 4-3 lead after 15 minutes thanks to an efficient 4-of-6 shooting effort.
Widlitz made two more saves in the first four minutes to keep Union in front, but the game turned when Salisbury (18-0) scored three times on a five-minute player-down situation to take its first lead of the day. Guanci ended the run to get Union back within a goal and reach the 100-point mark for her career, but the Sea Gulls added two later in the period to take an 8-5 lead into halftime.
Following a Joseph goal to open the third quarter, the Sea Gulls created more separation with the next four tallies, building their lead up to six with 3:43 left. Still down by six entering the fourth quarter, Mickelson and Guanci scored twice in just over a minute to get back within four at 13-9, but Union turned the ball over on the next possession and Salisbury scored the final four goals to close out the contest and create a margin that was larger than the play on the field would suggest.
Union shot over 50 percent on the day with nine goals on 17 shots, but the visitors could not find enough opportunities on goal to stay with Salisbury, who finished with 36 shot attempts (including 11 from the eight-meter arc) and only nine turnovers.
The loss concludes an excellent season for the Garnet Chargers, recording the third at-large NCAA Tournament bid in program history and winning a game in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time while tying for fourth on the school's single-season wins list. The team's nine seniors – Guanci, Mickelson, Widlitz,
Rosie Crooker,
Maddie Doyle,
Sammy Johnson,
Emily Moore,
Claudia Patz and
Abbi Uhl – combined for 49 wins over their four seasons, making them the eighth-winningest class in program history.
