SALISBURY, Md. – The Union College women's lacrosse team made their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2015 a memorable one, setting new program records for most goals scored, fewest goals allowed and largest margin of victory in an NCAA Tournament game with a dominating 21-5 victory over the University of Mount Union on Saturday afternoon in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Division III Championships at Salisbury University's Sea Gull Stadium.
Junior
Gillian Joseph had a record-setting day for Union (14-6) in the win, single-handedly outscoring the opposition with a program NCAA Tournament-record seven goals and matching Union's NCAA record of eight points set by Caitlin Cuozzo '08 HOF '24 against Eastern in 2006. Her eight-point effort also moved her into third place on Union's single-season goals (66) and points (83) lists, just three goals and two points back of second place.
Senior
Christina Guanci had a huge game with three goals and three assists, and junior
Maddy Schiller added four goals and a helper. Schiller moved into seventh on the school's single-season goals list (59) and sixth in single-season points (78) at Union, while senior
Lana Mickelson added two goals and two assists to move into a tie for sixth on the school's single-season assists ledger as well.
Junior
Hannah Compa also had a massive game in the midst of a massive season on the draw for the Garnet Chargers, controlling 14 draws to give her 145 on the year, smashing the program single-season record of 138 set by Cuozzo in 2006.
With the win, Union advances to tomorrow's second round, where the Garnet Chargers will face off with #3 Salisbury beginning at 1 p.m. at Sea Gull Stadium.
After a turnover on the opening possession, both offenses went to work early on, as the teams combined to score on six straight possessions to knot the score at three with less than five minutes elapsed in the contest. Guanci, Schiller and Mickelson scored for Union to keep up offensively while the teams settled in.
Guanci's score with 10:23 left in the first jumpstarted a dominant stretch for the Garnet Chargers that saw Union score 12 straight goals over the next 18 minutes to completely blow the game open. Three straight player-up goals from Compa, junior
Maddie Doyle and sophomore
Caroline Murphy finished off the first quarter before an eight-goal blitz in the first 7:16 of the second stanza. Guanci had two goals and three assists while Joseph had three goals and a helper to lead Union during the second-quarter run, which put Union up 14-3. But Union also did it with defense, as a smothering defensive unit and ride contributed to four failed clears and turnovers on eight straight possessions overall.
Helped by a 13-1 edge in the second quarter, Union outshot Mount Union 28-7 in the first 30 minutes and controlled 14-of-19 draws on the way to a 14-4 halftime lead.
The Garnet Chargers kept rolling in the second half, outscoring the Purple Raiders by a 7-1 margin to finish off the most lopsided game in program NCAA Tournament history. Mount Union found the net for the last time after Joseph and Schiller scored the first two of the third quarter, but Union tacked on five more during the running clock and senior
Sydney Widlitz stopped the last six shots she saw to preserve the huge lead. Joseph had three in a row during the game-ending run, including a highlight-reel behind-the-back goal for her sixth of the day, before Mickelson and sophomore
Stella Del Papa closed out the scoring.
Union finished the day with a 42-16 edge in shots and 22-6 in draw controls while limiting Mount Union to just 12-of-20 on clearing attempts. Union also went 5-of-8 from the eight-meter arc and held an 18-10 advantage in ground balls.
In addition to Widlitz's nine saves, Union's defensive unit was fantastic on the day, with seniors
Claudia Patz and
Sammy Johnson, junior
Anna Dembowski and sophomore
Kate Loughney combining for seven ground balls and causing four turnovers.
