Grove City rolls to PAC men’s lacrosse title
GREENVILLE, Pa. (pacathletics.org)--Top-seeded Grove City College rolled to a 14-3 victory over No. 2 Westminster College in the title game of the inaugural Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Men's Lacrosse Championship Tournament Saturday afternoon at Robert E. Thorn Field.
With Saturday's victory, Grove City (12-5) and second-year head coach Alec Jernstedt earned the conference's automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Division III Championship. The title game victory was Grove City's ninth straight.
Westminster and first-year head coach Travis Brown conclude their season 9-7.
This spring, the PAC will be among the 27 conferences granted Pool A automatic qualification (AQ) to the annual Division III Championship. Team selections for the Division III Championship are scheduled to be announced Sunday, May 5 at 9 p.m. (EDT) with an online selection show available at ncaa.com. First and second round matchups are scheduled for Tuesday-Wednesday, May 7-8.
| Saturday, May 4 |
PAC Championship Tournament [Title game]
No. 3 Westminster at No. 1 Grove City
Robert E. Thorn Field--Grove City, Pa. |
Result: Grove City 14, Westminster 3
Box score |
Junior Henry Brannan (Tampa, Fla. | Plant) finished with five goals and a pair of ground balls to help lead the Wolverines to the inaugural PAC men's lacrosse title. Three of Brannan's scores came in the second half. Freshman attack Jed Speers (Medina, Ohio | Medina) and freshman midfielder Brett Gladstone (Marriottsville, Md. | Marriotts Ridge) each scored three times. Five Grove City players tallied at least four points in the win. Grove City held a 4-0 lead at halftime and outscored visiting Westminster 10-3 in the second. Defensively, Grove City pressured Westminster into 26 turnovers and limited the Titans to 10 shots on goal. Freshman faceoff specialist Grant Evans (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper Saint Clair) won all 17 of his faceoffs and picked up a game-high nine ground balls.Freshman goalie R.J. Miller (Doylestown, Pa. | Central Bucks East) stopped seven shots to earn his Grove City-record 11th win of the season. Westminster senior midfielder Ryan Shorts (Westlake Village, Calif. | Oak Park) had two goals and a pair of assists. Junior attacker Tyler Nordby (Burnt Hills, N.Y. | Burnt Hills) had a goal and an assist. Senior goalkeeper Carter Hall (Zeeland, Mich. | Zeeland West) had 10 saves for the Titans. |
| Wednesday, May 1 |
PAC Championship Tournament [Semifinal 1]
No. 4 Chatham at No. 1 Grove City
Robert E. Thorn Field--Grove City, Pa. |
Result: Grove City 20, Chatham 13
Box score |
Junior Henry Brannan (Tampa, Fla. | Plant) finished with nine goals and an assist Wednesday to help Grove City earn a spot in Saturday's title game. Chatham junior Will Petraglia (Wexford, Pa. | North Allegheny) evened the game at 2-2 with 10:15 to play in the first quarter, but the Wolverines registered five-straight scores to grab a 7-2 advantage with 5:55 left in the first. Brannan tallied three of Grove City's five scores during the stretch. Up 7-3 after one, the Wolverines outscored the Cougars 5-2 in the second to carry a 12-5 lead into the half. With Grove City leading 16-9 after three, Chatham fired in three-straight scores to start the fourth to pull to within four, 16-12. Grove City followed with four-straight goals, which included a pair of scores from Brannan, to secure the victory. Freshman Jed Speers (Medina, Ohio | Medina) added four goals and assisted on three more for the Wolverines. Freshman Grant Evans (Pittsburgh, Pa. | Upper St. Clair) claimed 26-of-31 faceoffs while totaling a game-high 19 ground balls. Freshman R.J. Miller (Doylestown, Pa. | Central Bucks East) finished with nine saves in goal for Grove City. Sophomore Adam Bleess (Shakopee, Minn. | Shakopee) led Chatham with three goals. First-year Jake Brown (Georgetown, Del. | Cape Henlopen) chipped in with two goals, three assists and four ground balls. First-year Cameron Smith (San Antonio, Texas | Reagan) stopped 13 shots and tallied four ground balls in net in 50:55 reserve minutes. |
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| Wednesday, May 1 |
PAC Championship Tournament [Semifinal 2]
No. 3 Westminster at No. 2 Saint Vincent
UPMC Field--Latrobe, Pa. |
Result: Westminster 11, Saint Vincent 10
Box score |
After falling behind host Saint Vincent 6-4 at the half, Westminster outscored the Bearcats 4-1 in the third quarter and held off a late fourth quarter rally to secure a spot in Saturday's title game. Junior Dante Serra (Center Valley, Pa. | Southern Lehigh)
evened the game at 9-9 with 8:51 remaining before giving Westminster a 10-9 lead with 8:02 to play. Freshman Joe Rosa (Newton, N.J. | Kittatinny Regional) registered the eventual game-winning goal with just over four minutes to play. Senior Carter Hall (Zeeland, Mich. | Zeeland West) totaled 15 saves in net for the Titans while Serra totaled five goals and an assist. Freshman Alexander Hays (Wexford, Pa. | North Allegheny) won 12-for-20 faceoffs and logged a team-high five ground balls. Sophomore Tyler Condrascky (Irwin, Pa. | Norwin) paced Saint Vincent with three goals and a pair of assists. He added four ground balls and a caused turnover. Senior Jeremy Kennedy (Gibsonia, Pa. | Pine-Richland) totaled three goals and an assist. Junior Brandon Martin (Butler, Pa. | Butler) finished with 15 saves and corralled a game-high six ground balls for the Bearcats. |