TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - Top-seeded Washington & Jefferson College and third-seeded Grove City College were winners in Thursday night's Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Women's Lacrosse Tournament semifinals and both advance to the championship game, where they will play for the conference crown Saturday afternoon in Washington at 1 pm.

W&J, the No. 1 seed and three-time defending PAC champion, trailed early against visiting Chatham University (10-8), but the Presidents (11-6) scored five of the final six goals in the first half to take the lead and outscored the Cougars 6-1 in the second half to claim a 14-7 victory. W&J has now appeared in the PAC Championship Game all five years the conference has held one. After falling in the inaugural championship fray in 2019 at Westminster, the Presidents have posted wins in the last three.

Third seed Grove City (14-5) advances out of the semifinal round for the second time in the last three years, rebounding after No. 2 Allegheny College (9-7) tied the game in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter to score the game-winning goal with 1:21 left in the second overtime to win a 14-13 thriller. This marks just the second occasion the PAC Championship Game will include the three seed and first since Thiel College reached the final game of the 2021 Tournament.

This is the second time W&J and Grove City will meet for the PAC crown. The first came in 2022 when the Presidents won their second title in a row with a 13-5 victory over the Wolverines. W&J also won this year's first meeting between the teams, edging Grove City 11-9 in the regular season finale in Washington on April 27th.

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. 

Thursday, May 2 (Semifinal Round - Washington, Pa.)
W&J 14, Chatham 7

W&J would have to rally after a strong start from upstart Chatham in a back-and-forth first half. The first quarter was more defensive early, with each team scoring just once in the first 13 minutes of the period, but in the final two minutes of the quarter, each side found the back of the net twice for a 3-3 tie after one period.

The second quarter saw the visiting team strike first, as Chatham junior Sam Beall-Dennell (Sykesville, Md.'Century) scored a pair of goals in the first five-plus minutes for a 5-3 Cougar lead. W&J responded by tallying four straight goals and five of the next six to build an 8-6 halftime lead. The run was sparked by a pair of goals from both senior Aisa Uhler (East Lansing, Mich./East Lansing) and sophomore Caleigh Bogats (Oakdale, Pa./Chartiers Valley).

In the third quarter, the Presidents scored at 13:14 to increase their lead to 9-6. After a Chatham goal at 9:23 cut it to 9-7, W&J responded and regained the three-goal lead three minutes later before adding another after a Cougars card to go up 11-7. W&J scored three times in the fourth quarter and held Chatham off the board to secure their spot in the PAC Championship game.

The tandem of Bogats and Uhler matched the game high with four goals apiece and Bogats also chipped in two caused turnovers and two draw controls. Senior Sofia Jenkins (Hughesville, Md./The Calverton School), W&J's all-time leader in assists, added six more in Thursday's win and also posted a goal, three ground balls and five draw controls. 

For the defense, junior Ella Phillips (Arnold, Md./Broadneck) had five ground balls and three caused turnovers and senior goalie Kaitlyn Brown (Charlotte Hall, Md./La Plata) made six saves over 60 minutes in goal. 

Beall-Dennell scored two goals and provided two assists to lead the Chatham offense. Her first goal was the 100th of her career and she is now the first player in Chatham lacrosse history, men or women, to reach 100 career goals. In addition, senior Felicia Hutter (Rochester, NY/Penfield) netted two goals, while senior Stephanie Walter (Leesburg, Va./Riverside)added a goal and an assist.

Thursday, May 2 (Semifinal Round - Meadville, Pa.)
Grove City 14, Allegheny 13 - 2 OT

Freshman Gwen Shilling (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) fired in a free position goal with 1:21 left in the second overtime period to give Grove City a 14-13 victory Thursday night at Allegheny,

Allegheny freshman Katherine Surdykowski scored the first and last goal of the Gators' game-opening 5-2 run but Grove City cut the lead to 5-4 by halftime, as senior Madison Nazigian (Forest, Va./Jefferson Forest) scored twice in the final 2:52 of the half.

The Wolverines then surged ahead by scoring four times in a four-minute span in the third quarter. Nazigian had a pair of those, including the final goal in the run, giving Grove City an 8-5 lead with 8:14 remaining in the third period. 

The rest of regulation was a see-saw battle, with two lead changes and five ties over thte final quarter and a half. Two more goals by Nazigian gave the Wolverines a 13-11 advantage with 5:30 to play but Surdykowski scored with 4:18 left and junior Lauren Petrarca (Simi Valley, Calif./Royal) scored with 13 seconds left to force overtime.  

Allegheny appeared to score the game-winning goal two minutes into overtime but a charging call negated the score. After the Wolverines cleared the zone, a foul gave Grove City the free position opportunity, which Shilling converted to end the game and send the Wolverines to Washington Saturday to play for the title.

The winning effort was paced by Nazigian, who fired in a single-game Grove City record eight goals to pace the offense. Shilling and freshman Tori Stevenson (Butler, Pa./Butler) both scored twice. Nazigian also led Grove City with a game-high six ground balls and recorded 11 draw controls, while junior goalie Elyse Kiggins (Zelienople, Pa./Seneca Valley) made 10 saves to earn the victory in goal.

Surdykowski led all Gators with a career-high eight points (5g-3a) in addition to five draws, five caused turnovers, and four ground balls. Junior Ema Caragein (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton LaSalle) scored three goals with one assist for four points, while Petrarca (2g-1a) and Ashley Amato (Westerly, R.I./Westerly) (1g-1a) also had multiple points. 
 
 

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.	No. 1 W&J 14, No. 4 Chatham 7	Washington, Pa.
7 p.m.	No. 3 Grove City 14, No. 2 Allegheny 13 (2 OT)	Meadville, Pa.
Saturday, May 4
Championship game
1 p.m.	No. 3 Grove City at No. 1 W&J	Washington, Pa.