SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Skidmore College women's lacrosse team scored the final five goals of the game to pull away from Union, winning 15-12 in Liberty League action at Frank Bailey Field Friday afternoon. 
 
Skidmore improves to 4-1 in league play and 8-4 overall. Union drops to 1-3 and 2-6 overall.
 
Cas Szwajkowski had another strong game on offense, leading the Thoroughbreds with seven points on four goals and three assists. Szwajkowski currently has 48 goals on the season and 98 in her young career. Tyler Phillips had a game-high five goals, adding an assist. Natalie LaBeau tallied three goals, with Amanda Orvis, Lilla Seymour, and Allison Byrne also scoring a goal. Gianna Muscari, Rachel Talanian, and Zoe Rafalowski-Houseman tallied assists.
 
Phillips, Kathleen Hanna, and Emily Schlicht each caused a pair of turnovers on the defensive end. Megan Kolopsky made six saves in 47:02 of play for the win.
 
Cailin Pandolfi tallied five points on three goals and two assists and Mallory Toolan and Jackie Hagopian each tallied a pair of goals to lead the Dutchwomen. Jen Hughes made 10 saves in net in the decision.
 
Union came out of the gate with four straight goals in the first 4:21. Phillips eventually got Skidmore on the board with her goal at 25:17. LaBeau and Seymour then scored on free position attempts to bring the deficit to one.
 
After Union and Skidmore traded goals, the Thoroughbreds tied the game at six with another goal from LaBeau and one from Byrne. Union scored twice to take a two-goal lead, but Phillips and Szwajkowski scored in the final 1:11 of the half to tie the game at eight.
 
LaBeau's third goal of the game gave Skidmore its first lead at 27:56 in the second half, before Pandolfi gave Union the lead with two straight goals and Emma Lowrey scored to make it 11-9. Skidmore then went on a run, scoring six of the next seven goals to take its biggest lead of the game at 15-12 with 6:22 to go. In that run, Szwajkowski tallied an unassisted goal at 18:35 to tie the game at 12, then Phillips beat a few Union defenders to break the tie for good 38 seconds later. Szwajkowski and Phillips traded goals later in the half to complete the scoring, as both defenses stood strong until the final horn.
 
Skidmore held a 29-22 shot advantage and a slight 15-14 draw control edge. Skidmore converted on 8-of-9 clear attempts and held Union to seven of 11 clears.
 
Skidmore travels to Geneva to take on No. 9 William Smith on Saturday in a rematch of the 2016 Liberty League Championship game. The contest is slated to begin at 3 p.m.