TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - Third-seeded Grove City College raced out to a five-goal lead in the first quarter and cruised from there, while fourth-seeded Chatham University scored the tie-breaking goal with four minutes left and held on for a one-goal victory, as the two higher seeded teams notched victories in the PAC Women's Lacrosse Tournament Quarterfinals Tuesday evening.

Grove City (13-5) scored the first 10 goals of the game and rolled to a 17-5 triumph over No. 6 Westminster College (5-11). In Pittsburgh, Chatham (10-7) broke an 8-8 tie on a goal with 4:04 to play and held on for a 9-8 victory over fifth-seeded Thiel College (9-7) for the first PAC Tournament win in Chatham program history.

The victories send Grove City and Chatham into the PAC semifinals Thursday evening. Grove City will make the trip to Meadville, Pa., to take on second-seeded Allegheny College (9-6) at 7 p.m. Meanwhile, top seed and three-time defending champion Washington & Jefferson College (10-6) will host Chatham in Washington, Pa., in a semifinal match-up which will also get underway at 7 pm.

Saturday's title game will be hosted by the highest-remaining seed following Thursday's semifinal games. Information regarding this year's championship game will be announced following the semifinal round.

The winner of the PAC Championship Tournament will receive the conference's automatic-qualifying bid to the Division III Championship. The field for this year's Division III Championship is scheduled to be announced Monday, May 6. First and second round games are scheduled for Saturday-Sunday, May 11-13. 

Tuesday, April 30 (Quarterfinal Round - Grove City, Pa.)
Grove City 17, Westminster 5

The Wolverines scored five times in the first quarter and added the first five goals in the second to build a 10-0 lead in Tuesday's Quarterfinal with the Titans. Grove City senior Madison Nazigian (Forest, Va./Jefferson Forest) scored of those 10, while freshman Taylor Blythe (Mendon, N.Y./Honeoye Falls-Lima) scored three to give the home team the double-digit lead.

Westminster did manage to build some momentum late in the half with two goals in the final 2:21, one coming from sophomore Haley Wenzel (Coppell, Texas/Texas) and the other by senior Nina Rascona (Somerset, Pa./Somerset) off an assist from Wenzel with 20 seconds to play. The tallies trimmed the Wolverines margin to 10-2 going into the break.

The Titans were hoping to build off the momentum from those first-half goals, but their comeback hopes were quickly dashed by the Wolverines. Grove City scored 41 seconds after halftime and added three more after that to take a 14-2 lead. Grove City would score three of the five goals netted in the final quarter to complete their 17-5 victory and advance to the PAC semifinals for the second year in a row.

Blythe led the Wolverines offense with 10 points on five goals and five assists to tie her own single-game program record for points. All five of her assists came on scores by Mazigian, who would finish with six goals for the night. Also collecting multiple points in the win were senior Lucy Martin (Silver Spring, Md./Montgomery Blair) with four points (1g/3a) and freshman Gwen Shilling (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) with three (1g/2a).

Pacing the Grove City defensive, which caused 12 turnovers and limited the Titans to just 11 shots, was junior Amber Wartman (Ellicott City, Md./Mount Hebron) with four caused turnovers and junior Sarah Jackson (Brookfield, Conn./Brookfield), who scooped five ground balls. Junior goalie Elyse Kiggins  (Zelienople, Pa./Seneca Valley) made thres saves in nearly 42 minutes of action to get the win.

For Westminster, Wenzel totaled three goals and one assist, while Rascona compiled one goal, one assist, and team-highs with four ground balls and three caused turnovers.

Tuesday, April 30 (Quarterfinal Round - Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Chatham 9, Thiel 8

After building four-goal advantages three different times, Chatham needed a late tie-breaking goal to overcome a remarkable eight-goal performance from Thiel senior Ashlyn Wightman (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler) and claim their first PAC Tournament victory. The Cougars scored the first two goals of the game and after Wightman's first tally made it 2-1, Chatham struck for three goals in the final 2:15 of the first quarter for a 5-1 lead.

It was a 6-2 Cougars' lead at halftime after each team managed one goal in the second quarter. Two more goals by Wightman to start the scoring in the third quarter trimmed the deficit to 6-4, but Chatham answered with scores from junior Erin Goodwin (Milford, Conn./Jonathan Law)and sophomore Dani Macconnell (Dayton, Ohio/Centerville) swelled their lead back to 8-4 late in the third.

Wightman then brought the Tomcats back with four consecutive goals, starting with a tally with eight seconds to play in the third quarter. She tacked on two more goals in the first half of the final period and then struck for her eighth goal of the game with 4:58 to play to even the score at 8-8.

The tie lasted less than a minute, as on Chatham's next possession, a foul gave the Cougars a free position shot, which senior Felicia Hutter (Rochester, NY/Penfield) converted for her fourth goal of the game and a 9-8 lead. There was still 4:04 left to play and the Tomcats would get another chance after forcing a Chatham turnover. Thiel put a shot on net with 2:36 to play but it was saved by freshman goalie Meghan Cuza-Berry (Gambrills, MD Arundel). Chatham gathered the ground ball, managed to clear the zone and would maintain possession until the final buzzer sounded, giving the Cougars the win and the trip to W&J for the semifinal round.

Hutter paced the Chatham attack with four goals and one assist for five points, while Goodwin also chipped in with a pair of goals. Defensively, Cuza-Berry stopped seven shots in the win and senior Avery Redd (Indiana, Pa./Indiana) scooped up a game-high nine ground balls, including the important GB following the final Thiel shot to get possession that the Cougars would not give up.

Already Thiel's all-time leader in goals and points, Wightman's final game for the Tomcats was outstanding with eight goals and two ground balls. In goal, senior Madison Liggett (Baltimore, Md./Catholic) stopped 17 shots and had a team-high five ground balls.
 

2024 PAC Women's Lacrosse Championship Tournament
Tuesday, April 30
Quarterfinals
5 p.m.	No. 4 Chatham 9, No. 5 Thiel 8	Pittsburgh, Pa.
5:30 p.m.	No. 3 Grove City 17, No. 6 Westminster 5	Grove City, Pa.
Thursday, May 2
Semifinals
7 p.m.	[SF1] No. 4 Chatham at No. 1 W&J	Washington, Pa.
7 p.m.	[SF2] No. 3 Grove City at No. 2 Allegheny	Meadville, Pa.
Saturday, May 4
Championship game
TBD	Semifinal 1 winner vs. Semifinal 2 winner	Hosted by highest-remaining seed