TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - Top-seed Westminster College and second-seed Grove City College posted semifinal wins on their home fields Wednesday evening to advance to the Championship Game in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Women's Soccer Tournament.

The Titans (11-5-1) used a goal with just over five minutes to play in regulation to come away with a 1-0 victory over No. 4 Saint Vincent College (13-6-1). In the other semifinal, the Wolverines (12-3-3) erupted for four goals in under 11 minutes in the first half to spark a 6-2 triumph over third-seeded Allegheny College (12-7-1).

With those wins, Grove City will now travel to Westminster to play in the PAC Championship match Saturday in a 4 pm kickoff in New Wilmington. The match will be broadcast live by the PAC Sports Network.

In Westminster's semifinal win, the Titans continually generated scoring chances, but could not finish until late. The home team posted a 17-2 advantage in shots in the first half, but Saint Vincent freshman keeper Rilyn Warner (Granville, Ohio/Watkins Memorial) stopped eight to keep Westminster scoreless. The Bearcats' best scoring opportunity came in the closing seconds of the half off a corner kick, but the SVC header went right into the hands of Titan junior keeper Morgan Murphy (Yardley, Pa./Villa Joseph Marie) and the match remained scoreless at the break. 

The Titans continued applying pressure in the second half, but Warner kept up her strong play in net, making four saves in the first 25 minutes of the half. The key break came with six minutes to play when Saint Vincent was whistled for a foul just outside the top of the box. On the ensuing free kick, Westminster senior Natalie Vilchek (West Newton, Pa./Yough) delivered a left-footed shot to the upper left corner of the goal for the first score and a 1-0 Titan lead with 5:35 to play.

Saint Vincent created one more scoring chance in the closing minutes. Following a throw-in on the Westminster end of the field, SVC sophomore Emma Koller (Baltimore, Md./Eastern Tech) worked free to rip a shot from the right wing, but Murphy was in position to catch it for the save. Time would run out without another shot from either team and the Titans emerged with 1-0 victory, due in large part to a defense that allowed just six shots in the match and Murphy, who made three saves.

Saint Vincent, who was making their first appearance in the PAC semifinals in program history, dropped the one-goal decision despite 14 saves from their first-year keeper Warner.

Defending champions Grove City punched their ticket to the title match off the strength of a four-goal explosion in the first half against Allegheny. The match was scoreless until the 20th minute when a Gator foul gave Grove City senior Emma Herrmann (Hilton, N.Y./Paul V. Moore) a PK, which she buried for a 1-0 lead.

That goal opened the floodgates, as just over two and a half minutes later, sophomore Tori Stevenson (Butler, Pa./Butler) started her big night with a goal off an assist by senior Britta Lagerquist (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel). Only three minutes later, Herrman converted another PK for a 3-0 Grove City lead. Allegheny managed their first goal on a score by senior Emma Miller (Elyria, Ohio/Lake Ridge Academy) at the 27:00 mark, but the Wolverines quickly responded four minutes later when Stevenson was set up by senior Erin Venus (Medina, Ohio/Cuyahoga Valley Christian) for her second goal of the game to make it 4-1, which is where the lead stood at halftime.

It didn't take long for Grove City to add on again in the second half, as Stevenson completed a hat trick by scoring 43 seconds after intermission off an assist by sophomore Megan Tischler (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) and it was 5-1. Each team would score one more time, with Allegheny's goal coming from Taylor McKindley (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) in the 65th minute and the Wolverines' final goal came in the 85th minute when Lagerquist finished to make the final margin 6-2.

The six goals by Grove City is the most in a PAC Tournament match since Washington & Jefferson defeated Bethany 7-0 in a first round game in 2004.

Saturday's match-up will feature the last two conference champions, as Grove City won their eighth league crown in 2023 and Westminster's championship in 2022 was their sixth in program history. While Westminster is in the title match for the second time in the last three years, Grove City is making its 12th appearance in the final in the last 13 years.

When the teams played in the regular season, they were forced to settle for a draw. A Wolverine goal with three minutes to play resulted in a 2-2 tie between the programs in their match-up Oct. 11th at Grove City. Although they are two of the more successful programs in the PAC, the Titans and Wolverines have not faced recently in the PAC Tournament. Saturday will be the first time the teams have faced in the postseason since the 2018 final, a match that was played to a 1-1 tie before Grove City won in PKs, 3-1.