Women's Soccer | 11/5/2025 11:59:00 PM

TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - The higher seeds held serve Wednesday in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Women's Soccer Tournament semifinals, as No. 1 Grove City College and No. 2 Waynesburg University posted shutouts to advance and set up the first meeting between the programs in the Championship match since 2001.

Two-time defending champion Grove City (12-4-2) scored the match's only goal in the 14th minute and held off an upset-minded Franciscan University with a 1-0 victory. Meanwhile, Waynesburg (15-2-2) was locked in a scoreless battle with third-seeded Saint Vincent College until striking for a pair of goals in the final 11+ minutes to come away with a 2-0 triumph. 

The Wolverines and Yellow Jackets will face in the PAC Championship match Saturday at 4:30 pm in Grove City. The PAC Sports Network will have full coverage of the final, which fans can watch Here.

Grove City's offense applied pressure early against fifth-seeded Franciscan (6-9-4). The Wolverines had three shots in the opening eight minutes before breaking through. Grove City junior Tori Stevenson (Butler, Pa./Butler) scored her conference-leading 16th goal of the season at the 13:20 mark, giving Grove City its 1-0 lead. It would prove to be Stevenson's team-leading fifth game-winning score of 2025.

The rest was up to the Wolverines' defense, which allowed just two goals in 11 regular season PAC matches. Grove City limited the Barons to only two shots in the first half, with neither on goal. Franciscan did generate more chances in the second half, totaling four shots after the break. Two were on net 14 seconds apart around the 80th minute, but Wolverine junior keeper Maddie Mills (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) stopped both. Franciscan was not able to create another shot attempt over the final 10 minutes and Grove City pulled out the one-goal win to reach another PAC final.

Grove City outshot Franciscan, 17-6, including an 8-2 margin in shots on goal. The Wolverines had seven corner kicks and Franciscan recorded five corners. Grove City had a 6-1 edge in the first half in corner kicks.

Mills's two saves preserved Grove City's 10th straight shutout, which set a program record.

In net for Franciscan was freshman Callie Giguere (Piqua, Ohio/Lehman Catholic), who kept the Barons in the game with seven saves, including five in the first half. 

In the other semifinal, Waynesburg and Saint Vincent played an evenly matched first 45 minutes, with the host team holding a slim 7-6 advantage in total shots (4-3 SOG). The two goalkeepers were largely responsible for the scoreless first half, as Jacket junior Lex Greenlief (Chester, W.Va./Oak Glen) stopped three shots and Bearcat sophomore Rylin Warner (Granville, Ohio/Watkins Memorial) denied four attempts in the opening half. 

Saint Vincent started the second half strong, putting five shots on target in the first 21 minutes after the break. But Geenlief made saves on all five to maintain the 0-0 score.
 
The Yellow Jackets broke through for the game-winning goal in the 79th minute off a breakaway from freshman Miracle Hershey (Lebanon County, Pa./New Covenant Christian). Junior Julz Mohrbacher (Freedom, Pa./Freedom) assisted on the score with a pass to Hershey, who then set up the breakaway by placing it into position with a header and racing to the goal with two defenders behind her.
 
The Jackets added a crucial insurance goal by Mohrbacher in the 83rd minute set up from a pass by Hershey. The speedy freshman had control of the ball on the left side of the pitch and then provided a pass to the center to Mohrbacher, who powered it into the net.
 
The Jackets outshot the Bearcats 16-12 and attempted five of the seven corner kicks on the night. Greenlief provided eight saves in the win for her 10th shutout of the campaign.
 
Saturday's championship will be a rematch of the Oct. 29th regular season finale when Grove City downed Waynesburg 4-0 to clinch the top seed. Although there was a four-goal spread by the end, the Wolverines only led 1-0 until scoring three times in the final 21 minutes.
 
Grove City is trying to win its 10th PAC title in program history and become the first conference team to win three in a row since Thomas More won seven straight from 2011-17. That 2011 Thomas More victory in the final was by a 2-0 score over Waynesburg, which was the last time the Yellow Jackets reached the title tilt. A win on Saturday would give Waynesburg its second PAC women's soccer championship and first since 1998.

Waynesburg's crown that season was won with a 1-0 shutout over Grove City in the championship match. The Wolverines would get their revenge by besting the Jackets in both the 2000 (4-0) and 2001 (4-1) PAC championship games.