SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College men's lacrosse team is back in the Liberty League championship game for the first time in three years and the fourth-seeded Garnet Chargers look to pull off another upset when they travel to third-seeded and #12/10 Rochester Institute of Technology on Sunday at 1 p.m. at RIT's Judson Stadium.
Union (8-11, 4-3 Liberty League) won its second game of the postseason on Friday with a 10-4 upset of top-seeded and #17/18 Ithaca College to advance to the championship game. RIT (14-4, 5-2 Liberty League) also landed an upset to reach the title round, surging past second-seeded #16/17 St. Lawrence University by an 11-9 score on the road.
POSTSEASON HISTORY: Union is making its 16th postseason appearance in the last 18 years and is 11-14 all-time in Liberty League Tournament play. The squad is making its eighth appearance (2008, 2011-12, 2014-15, 2019, 2023) in the conference championship game, including one conference tournament title in 2011.
UNION VS. THE TIGERS: Union's history against RIT is well known at this point; the squad is 3-32 all-time against the Tigers, including a streak of 27 straight losses dating back to RIT's first year in the Liberty League in 2012. Union and RIT have met nine previous times in the conference tournament, including four championship games; the Tigers are 9-0 in those contests.
LAST MEETING: RIT earned a 16-11 win over Union on April 18, as the home team outscored the visitors 11-5 in the second half to erase a one-goal halftime deficit. First-year
Garrett Salit led the way for Union with a game-high five goals and six points, but he was the only Garnet Charger to score more than once on the afternoon. Junior
Nick Lynch made 12 saves on the other end of the field.
A TOUGH ROAD: Union's 2026 opponents have a combined winning percentage of .634 (170-98) this year, ranking as the 12th-toughest schedule in Division III this season. Among Liberty League schools, only RIT and St. Lawrence had 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 two scores.
READY TO POP: Senior
Walker Popko is one goal away from becoming just the fourth player in program to record 50 goals in a season, entering Sunday with 49 goals and 18 assists for 67 points so far this year. In two seasons in Schenectady since transferring from Stony Brook University, Popko has 83 goals with 26 assists for 109 points in just 33 games.
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 33 goals and a team-leading 30 assists for 63 points. Salit leads all Liberty League rookies in goals, assists and points this season, and is also one of only two Liberty League players overall this season to record at least 30 goals and 30 assists. He became the school's all-time points leader by a first-year with his seven points on Tuesday against Skidmore and is currently tied with Nate Fitch '93 HOF '13 for the most goals scored by a Union first-year.
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 among conference players. Salit also ranks sixth in the conference in assists (30) and fifth in points (63) overall this season. Allen, meanwhile, ranks 49th in Division III in shooting percentage this year by scoring on 44.1 percent of his shots, and also leads the team with six man-up goals.
LENDING A HAND: Union ranks sixth in the conference by averaging 11.26 goals per game, but the Garnet Chargers rank second among conference schools by dishing out an average of 7.16 assists per contest.
THE X FACTOR: Senior
Luke Tranter leads all Liberty League players with 239 faceoff wins this season and has won 56.2 percent of his draws on the year while ranking fifth with 102 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. He also is eighth on the school's single-season ground balls list, as one of only six Union players to reach triple digits in a season.
IN THE NICK OF TIME: Junior goalie
Nick Lynch has recorded double-digit saves in each of the last seven games for Union and has made at least 11 saves in 17 of the team's 19 contests. Lynch leads the Liberty League with 240 saves this year and enters Sunday tied for third on the school's single-season list.
ABOUT THE TIGERS: RIT is looking for its 13th Liberty League Tournament title and first since 2023, when the team won its last of 11 straight titles. The Tigers boast the conference's top offense at 14.89 goals per game and also pace the conference in ground balls (39.50/gm) and caused turnovers (11.82/gm). Erich Acton is tied for the Liberty League lead with 72 points on 43 goals and 29 assists and also ranks seventh in Division III in shooting percentage (50.6 percent), while Ryan Sanders has 41 goals on the year and leads the conference in shots at almost nine per game.
Philip Minardo ranks third in the conference by winning 62.1 percent of his faceoffs and has grabbed 107 ground balls on the year, while Joe Holenstein paces the defense with 67 ground balls and 26 caused turnovers. Goalie Alex Zborowski ranks second in the conference with a 9.39 goals against average and has a .535 save percentage in 18 games.
WHAT'S NEXT: The winner of Sunday's game earns the Liberty League's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Tournament.
2026 Liberty League Men's Lacrosse Tournament
First Round – Tuesday, April 28
#4 Union 13, #5 Skidmore 9
Semifinals – Friday, May 1 (all games at higher seeds)
#4 Union 10, #1 Ithaca 4
#3 RIT 11, #2 St. Lawrence 9
Championship – Sunday, May 3 (at higher seed)
#4 Union at #3 RIT, 1:00 p.m.
