1 day Ago By Staff report
SCHENECTADY, N.Y. — It took an extra 24 hours, but it was worth the wait for the Union College women’s lacrosse team as the fourth-seeded Garnet Chargers doubled up fifth-seeded Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) by a 14-7 score in the first round of the Liberty League Tournament on Wednesday afternoon at Frank Bailey Field at Bertagna-Class of 1985 Stadium.
With the win, Union (12-3) advances to the Liberty League Tournament semifinals for the fifth straight season, where they will face off with another familiar postseason foe, top-seed William Smith College, on Friday in Geneva.Senior Greta Maurer had another excellent effort to lead the charge for Union, netting a game-high five goals on just six shots while adding three draw controls and a caused turnover. Sophomore Maddy Schiller continued her recent red-hot play with four goals and an assist to go with a game-high four ground balls, and five other Garnet Chargers scored once each.
Ella Graff scored four goals and added an assist to pace RPI (9-7).After playing the first 13:27 of the game on Tuesday evening, the teams returned to the field under sunny skies on Wednesday afternoon with Union leading 2-1. After defensive stops for both teams, Schiller kicked off her good day with her first of the game, 1:50 into the second stanza.
Maurer scored her first of the day and second of the game while Union was down a player to finish off a 4-0 run that dated back to Tuesday night.Camille Stackhouse got the visitors back within two with 5:55 on the clock, but in a theme that continued all game long, Union came back with the next goal to quell any Engineer momentum. Junior Lana Mickelson also found the net in the second period as the visitors went into halftime with a 6-3 edge.
The Garnet Chargers came out of the break and outscored RPI 5-2 in the third period to put the game away. Maurer and Schiller scored twice each in the stanza, with the key tallies coming from Maurer and junior Hannah Compa in the final 66 seconds to put the home team up 11-5 with 15 minutes remaining. Junior Maddie Doyle started the scoring in the fourth, and Union was content to alternate goals the rest of the way to finish the win.
Union outshot RPI by a 31-15 margin and nearly doubled up the Engineers in ground balls by a 25-13 count. Junior Sydney Widlitz made four saves to earn her eleventh win of the year, and Jenny Canfield stopped nine shots in a losing effort for RPI.Union’s fifth straight semifinal appearance means a fifth consecutive postseason matchup with William Smith on Friday.
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