POTSDAM, NY – The Union College men's lacrosse team had goals from seven different student-athletes and sophomore Brendan Kinnane posted three assists, but the Dutchmen lost a closely fought battle, 10-8, at Clarkson on Saturday. Union goes to 5-7 overall and 1-3 in the Liberty League, while Clarkson, which is receiving votes to be ranked nationally, goes to 9-1 and 4-1.

The Golden Knight's Tom Ross scored an unassisted goal, which proved to be the game-winner, with 8:00 remaining in the game to move the score to 9-6. The Dutchmen attempted to fight back with goals from junior Christopher Jacobson (Northborough, MA/St. John's) at 5:31 and junior Charles Hovsepian (Hingham, MA / Hingham) at 4:18. A Clarkson goal sandwich between the two at 5:04 helped produce the final result.

Jacobson and Hovsepian were joined on the score sheet by junior Andrew Higgins (Wrentham, MA / Berkshire School), freshman Ethan Meyer (Brewster, NY / Brewster), freshman Nick Alfonzetti and senior Matthew Douglas (New York, NY/The Hotchkiss School). Freshman Ted McKenna (Westford, MA / Philips Exeter Academy) led all Union scorers with two goals.

Higgins and Jacobson also posted assists.

The Golden Knights set the tone early, jumping out to a 4-0 lead through the first 20 minutes of action. McKenna put the Dutchmen on the scoreboard from Higgins at 9:53. After Clarkson's Matt Cyr, who had assists on three of the first four goals, made it 5-1, Higgins notched his team-leading 22nd goal of the season.

The goal sparked a four-goal run for Union, which also included third-quarter goals from McKenna (14:24), Douglas (10:21) and Alfonzetti (9:25). Alfonzetti's goal, his seventh of the season tied the score at 5-5.

Two goals by Clarkson before the end of the third gave the home team a 7-5 advantage, but Meyer scored at 13:31 of the fourth. Clarkson's Tyler Long answered just over two minutes remaining, allowing Ross to get the game-winner.

Clarkson outshot Union 41-24 and collected four more groundballs (35-31).

Senior netminder Christopher Keinath (Wilbraham, MA/Minnechaug Regional) made 14 stops, while Golden Knight goaltender John Svoren made six.

Union travels to Vassar for a critical Liberty League matchup on Wednesday, Apr. 22 at 7:00 p.m.

2009-04-18