STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (pacathletics.org) - Franciscan University built a 2-0 lead by early in the second half and held off a comeback attempt to secure a 2-1 victory over Grove City College Saturday night in the 2024 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Men's Soccer Tournament Championship match and win the Barons' second league title in program history.

With the win, top-seeded Franciscan (13-1-5) also claims the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the second time.

Grove City (12-4-3), the tournament's third seed who was making their second consecutive appearance in the final, generated a myriad of chances in the early going Saturday. In addition to having two corner kicks, the Wolverines launched seven shots in the first 24 minutes. One caromed off the crossbar and four others were on net, but Baron sophomore keeper Aiden Miller (Galena, Ohio/Olentangy Berlin) stopped all four to keep the match scoreless.

Later in the half, Franciscan began creating opportunities. After a cluster of three shots and two corners around the 35th minute, the home team broke through a short time later. With just over three minutes left in the half, Franciscan junior Julien Freeman (Greenville, S.C./Powdersville) scored off an assist from senior Joe St. George (Ashburn, Va./Bishop O'Connell) and the goal stood as the only one in the first half, with the Barons holding a 1-0 lead at halftime. 

It took just a short time after intermission for the score to change. Just 1:22 into the second half, Baron senior Joshua Atkinson (Haymarket, Va./Seton) played a ball from out by midfield into the box, where junior Aidan Henninger (Sequim, Wash./Sequim) had set up and Henninger's header just lifted the ball over Grove City junior keeper Teddy Almeter (Monroeville, Pa./Serra) into the net to extend the Franciscan lead to 2-0.

Down by two, Grove City's attack picked up again and this time, a flurry led to a score. Following two saves by Miller, the Wolverines had a corner kick. The delivery into the box led to a scrum and following a handful of deflections, the ball trickled over the goal line for a score. Grove City graduate student Connor Hudson (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) was credited with the goal with the assist going to senior John-Luc Harbour (Broomfield, Colo./Broomfield) and the Franciscan lead was down to 2-1 with 40 minutes still to play.

The Wolverines would continue to throw shots towards the goal in an attempt to get the equalizer, but they would come up empty. Grove City would fire off nine more shots following their initial score, but the two that were on goal were saved by Miller. The Baron sophomore made his final stop with seven minutes to play and time would run out on the Wolverines, as Franciscan held on for the 2-1 win and second title in three years.

Miller's night saw him make eight total saves, including four in each half. Following the victory, Henninger after his game-winning goal in the final was named to the All-Tournament Team, as was senior Ryan Miller (Galena, Ohio/Olentangy Berlin), while junior Lucas Cross (Clarkston, Mich./Everest Collegiate), who scored a hat trick in the semifinal win over Allegheny, was named the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player. 

Earning All-Tournament Team recognition for Grove City was junior Aidan Eck (Akron, Ohio/Cuyahoga Valley Christian) and junior Camden Thomas (North Lima, Ohio/South Range).

Franciscan will now await to learn who they will play in the NCAA Tournament, with selections scheduled for Monday afternoon at 1:30 p.m.