Saratoga Springs, N.Y.-- Matt Levesque (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) scored six goals to lead the Skidmore College men's lacrosse team to a 14-7 Liberty League win over Union College, Saturday at Wachenheim Field. The Thoroughbreds are 6-4 overall and 1-2 in Liberty play, while the Dutchmen fall to 5-4 and 1-2.

Skidmore came out strong, taking a 3-0 lead in the game's first three minutes on goals by Rob Lutin (Port Washington, N.Y./Schreiber), Cory Barkoff (Woodbury, N.Y./Syosset), and Levesque. Barkoff made it 4-0 at 5:54, before Union got on the board on Ted McKenna's goal with 1:54 to play in the quarter.

The teams traded goals in the second quarter with Ben Cornell (Natick, Mass./Middlesex) scoring for the Thoroughbreds to make it 5-2 at the half.

In the third, the Dutchmen cut the lead to two on Andrew Higgins's goal at 14:43. Levesque got one back at 7:33 from Coppola. Union's Christopher Jacobson scored two straight, including a man-down goal at 9:22 and an even goal at 8:25 to pull his team to within one, 6-5.

Skidmore responded with a 6-0 run that bridged into the fourth quarter to open a 12-5 lead. Levesque and Coppola had two goals each in the run with Lutin and John Bubier also scoring. The Dutchmen scored two late to make it 12-7, but Levesque scored twice in the final five minutes for the 14-7 final.

In addition to his six goals, Levesque had five ground balls and three caused turnovers, while Coppola had two goals and five assists. Lutin finished with two goals and an assist and Barkoff had two goals and two assists. Defender Scott Grillo (Wellesley, Mass./Wellesley) had six ground balls and three caused turnovers.

Jacobson finished with three goals for Union, while Ethan Mayer had three assists.

Skidmore out shot the Dutchmen 45-28. Flip Bongaerts (Summerland, Calif./New Canaan) had 12 saves in goal for the Thoroughbreds, while Christopher Keinath had eight saves in 49 minutes for Union.

Skidmore will host Middlebury on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.

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SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – Junior Christopher Jacobson (Northborough, MA / St. John's) potted three goals in the Union College men's lacrosse 14-7 loss at Skidmore on Saturday afternoon. Freshman Ethan Meyer (Brewster, NY / Brewster) joined Jacobson on the score sheet with three assists as the Dutchmen go to 1-2 in the conference and 5-4 overall, while Skidmore improves to 1-2 in the Liberty League and 6-4 on the year.

The Dutchmen found themselves in a hole early, falling behind 4-0 during the first nine minutes of the game, but freshman Ted McKenna (Westford, MA / Philips Exeter Academy) scored his 12th goal of the season on a play setup by Meyer with 1:53 remaining in the first.

Both teams struck once in the second – Union's goal came from junior Scott Garibaldi (Summit, NJ / Summit) with 2:32 remaining.

Union's strongest offensive showing came in the third with junior Andrew Higgins (Wrentham, MA / Berkshire School) picking up his team-leading 17th goal of the season, cutting the Thoroughbreds lead to 5-3 at 14:43. After Skidmore stuck moments later, Jacobson scored with a man down at 9:22.

Skidmore won the ensuing face-off, but a save by senior Christopher Keinath (Wilbraham, MA / Minnechaug Regional) allowed Union to flip the field and Jacobson found the back of the net at 8:25, making the score 6-5.

That was as close as the Dutchmen would come; Skidmore registered three goals before the end of the third and added four in the fourth.

Jacobson picked up the hat trick at 10:16 on an assist from Meyer and senior Kevin Rautenstrauch (West Seneca, NY / St. Francis) posted his first goal of the season at 9:56.

Skidmore outshot Union, 45-28, and held the advantage in groundballs, 36-33. The Dutchmen, however, one the face-off fight, 12-11.

Union travels to Williams on Tuesday, April 14 for a 6:00 p.m. contest.

2009-04-11