SCHENECTADY, NY – The fifth-seeded Skidmore College men's lacrosse team mounted a valiant second-half comeback that ultimately fell short, as fourth-seeded Union held on for the 13-9 win in the first round of the Liberty League Tournament on Tuesday evening.
The Thoroughbreds (10-6) showed resilience after a tough close to the first half, when the Garnet Chargers (7-10) used a six-goal run to break open a tightly contested game and take control heading into halftime. Skidmore responded out of the break with four straight goals in the third quarter to cut the deficit to just two, but Union answered down the stretch to hold off the comeback attempt and force the Thoroughbreds to bow out in the first round of the Liberty League playoffs.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After the Garnet Chargers scored in the opening minute, freshman Conor Geier responded with a solo goal to even the score at the 12:42 mark before senior David Koffler gave the Thoroughbreds a 2-1 lead with 9:47 remaining.
- The teams traded goals, with freshman Ollie Rice scoring off an assist from sophomore Michael Aiello after Union briefly tied the game. However, the Garnet Chargers closed the quarter with consecutive goals to take a 4-3 lead into the second.
- Koffler opened the second quarter by tying the game at 4-4 with a solo goal at the 12:16 mark.
- However, it was all Union the rest of the half, as the Garnet Chargers scored six unanswered goals to take a commanding 10-4 lead into intermission.
- The Thoroughbreds snapped the run at the 9:59 mark of the third quarter on a goal by sophomore Jake Weiner, assisted by Aiello. Weiner then set up senior Caleb Lawson just over a minute later to cut the deficit to 10-6 with 8:29 remaining.
- The momentum continued when senior Marty McFadden scored in transition, followed immediately by a Weiner takeaway and goal, trimming the deficit to just 10-8 at the 7:09 mark.
- Union scored its first goal of the half at the 5:09 mark of the third to push the lead to 11-8 heading into the fourth quarter.
- Kicking off the fourth, Koffler connected with Weiner for his third goal of the half to make it an 11-9 game with 12:05 remaining.
- That would be as close as Skidmore would get, as Union held the Thoroughbreds scoreless the rest of the way and added a pair of late goals to secure the first-round victory.
STANDOUT THOROUGHBREDS
- Weiner scored a team-high three goals with one assist, in addition to a groundball and one caused turnover.
- Koffler tallied two goals, one assist, four groundballs and one caused turnover. The senior rounds out his career with 57 goals, 19 assists and 104 groundballs.
- Aiello dished out a pair of assists to go with a groundball.
- Lawson finished with one goal. The senior concludes his career with 60 goals, 11 assists and 40 groundballs.
- McFadden scored one goal with a caused turnover. The senior finishes his career with 135 groundballs, 85 caused turnovers and nine goals.
- Senior Jude Avelino Jr. tallied five groundballs with two caused turnovers. The senior finishes with 90 groundballs and 57 caused turnovers as a Thoroughbred.
