TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - Five-time defending champion Grove City College has been chosen as the favorite in the 2025 Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Men’s Lacrosse Preseason Coaches’ Poll, voted on by the conference's nine head coaches. The poll, along with the league’s Players to Watch list, was released Thursday afternoon. 

Now in his eighth year leading the Grove City program, head coach Alec Jernstedt and the Wolverines gathered eight first-place votes and 64 total points to claim the top spot in the 2025 poll. There was a tie for second place in the balloting between Chatham University, who claimed the other first-place vote, and Saint Vincent College, who both scored 49 points, while Allegheny College and Westminster College tied for fourth with 43 points.

Rounding out the poll was Franciscan University in sixth place with 30 points, followed by Washington & Jefferson College in seventh place (19), Thiel College in eighth (14) and Bethany College (13).

After posting an 8-0 mark in PAC games during the 2024 regular season, Grove City was the No. 1 seed in the PAC Championship Tournament. The Wolverines would secure their fifth straight title and the PAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship after recording a 17-6 triumph over Westminster in the semifinals and then a 27-9 win over Allegheny in the championship game. Grove City's season would end with a 15-5 overall record after falling in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Bowdoin College.

Following the championship season, Jernstedt was recognized as the PAC Coach of the Year for the fifth straight year and two of his players, who are both returning this spring, gathered major conference awards. Senior Zachary Hougan, the 2024 PAC Offensive Player of the Year, was a key cog for the prolific Grove City offense, which ranked fifth in the country with 17.8 goals per game. The midfielder totaled 33 goals, including a team-high seven man-up scores, and 26 assists for 59 points. Hougan posted four points or more in seven games, highlighted by a six-point (4g/2a) showing in the PAC semifinal victory over Westminster.

Grove City also had the conference's Specialist of the Year last year in senior Trey Zabroski. In the initial season the PAC presented the Specialist award, Zabroski did a little of everything in a dominant year as a short-stick defensive midfielder. He finished second on Grove City with 75 ground balls, was their second-best faceoff man with 41 wins in 67 attempts (.612 percent) and added 28 points on 14 goals and 14 assists. His work on the defensive side also helped the Wolverines allow a conference-low 8.95 goals per game.

A third major award winner back on the field this spring is Franciscan sophomore Joseph James. The 2024 PAC Newcomer of the Year had a historic first season for the Barons, as he led the PAC with 125 points and his 7.35 points per game led the nation. James also ranked fourth in Division III with 76 goals, second with 4.47 goals per game and 12th in the country with 2.88 assists per game (49 total in 17 games). The Baron attackman had five games with 12 or more points, headlined by a pair of 15-point efforts in wins over Hiram (9g/6a) and Anderson (8g/7a). 

Highlighted by Hougan, Zabroski and James, this year's Players to Watch list features 21 returning All-PAC selections, including eight who were First Team all-conference picks a year ago. Six also collected All-American laurels a season ago. Five from Grove City, including Hougan, Zabroski, senior attack Matt Blythe, junior defender Sam Stevenson and graduate student goalie Danny Stone, were named Honorable Mention All-Americans by United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA), while Stone and Franciscan's James received Honorable Mention All-America status from USA Lacrosse. 

The men are scheduled to play a full eight-game round robin conference schedule in 2024. The league’s four-team championship tournament is scheduled for Wednesday, April 30 for the semifinals and the championship game is set for Saturday, May 3. The winner of the PAC Championship Tournament will receive the league’s automatic-qualifying bid to the Division III Championship. 

 

2025 PAC Men's Lacrosse Preseason Coaches' Poll (Predicted order of finish)
School (first-place votes)	Points	2024 records
1. Grove City (8)	64	15-5, 8-0 PAC
T2. Chatham (1)	49	9-8, 4-4 PAC
T2. Saint Vincent	49	8-9, 6-2 PAC
T4. Allegheny	43	10-7, 7-1 PAC
T4. Westminster	43	10-8, 5-3 PAC
6. Franciscan	30	10-7, 3-5 PAC
7. W&J	19	3-11, 2-6 PAC
8. Thiel	14	3-11, 0-8 PAC
9. Bethany	13	6-11, 1-7 PAC

2025 PAC Men's Lacrosse Players to Watch 
1 = 2024 First Team All-PAC / 2 = Second Team / HM = Honorable Mention

Allegheny
Name	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Jack Cushwa	Sr.	A	Martinsburg, W.Va./Martinsburg
Anthony DeMarco (HM)	Sr.	M	Olmsted Falls, Ohio/Olmsted Falls
Konrad Homiak (HM)	Sr.	LSM	Hampstead, N.C./Topsail
Liam Kruck	Jr.	D	Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional
JP Rakis (1)	Jr.	A	Kensington, Md./Walter Johnson

 

Bethany
Name	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Tyler Britton	Grad.	M	Wheeling, W.Va./Wheeling Park
Luke McCauley	So.	LSM	Moundsville, W.Va./John Marshall
Christian Nestor	Sr.	G	Wheeling, W.Va./Wheeling Park
Cameron Russo	Grad.	A	Derwood, Md./Magruder
Ethyn Taylor	So.	A	Valley Grove, W.Va./Wheeling Central Catholic

 

Chatham
Name	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Jessie Corser-James	So.	D	Fort Collins, Col./The Hill School-Pa.
Thomas Curtin (2)	Sr.	D	Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest
Jacob Lubawy (2)	Jr.	M	Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin
Tanner Marsh (HM)	So.	A	Windsor, Col./Berkshire School
Ethan Rinker	Sr.	A	Laurel, Md./St. Vincent Pallotti

 

Franciscan
Name	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Nathaniel Carter	Jr.	A	McLean, Va./Trinity School at Meadow View
Joseph James (1)	So.	A	Herndon, Va./The Heights School
James Masso	So.	G	Norfolk, Mass./Catholic Memorial
Dominic Miraglia	Sr.	D	Ladera Ranch, Calif./JSerra Catholic
Sam Smith	Sr.	D	Galena, Ohio/Big Walnut

   

Grove City
Name	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Matt Blythe (1)	Sr.	A	Mendon, N.Y./Honeoye Falls-Lima
Zachary Hougan (1)	Sr.	A	Springboro, Ohio/Springboro
Sam Stevenson (1)	Jr.	D	Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove
Danny Stone (1)	Grad.	G	Chantilly, Va./Flint Hill
Trey Zabroski (1)	Sr.	M	Mountain Top, Pa./Crestwood

 

Saint Vincent
Name	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Brady Beard (HM)	Sr.	FO	Shepherdstown, W.Va./Spring Mills
Carter Haid (HM)	Grad.	A	Fredericksburg, Va./James Monroe
Garrett Ritts (HM)	Jr.	G	Shaker Heights, Ohio/Shaker Heights
Shawn Ryan	Sr.	D	Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin
Justin Wodarek (HM)	Sr.	M	Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park

   

Thiel
Name	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Thadd Bell	Grad.	A	Erie, Pa./McDowell
Justin Mason	Sr.	D	Alden, N.Y./Alden Central
Zach Melin	Sr.	A	Chardon, Ohio/Chardon
Logan Millie	So.	A	Fairview, Pa./Fairview
Ethan Narby	So.	G	Bath, N.Y./Haverling

 

W&J
Name	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Anthony DeLuca	Sr.	D	Philadelphia, Pa./Father Judge
Austin Hopkins	Sr.	D	Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield
Zach Mey	5th	A	Bridgeville, Pa./South Fayette
Braden Petrarco	Jr.	M/SSDM	Irwin, Pa./Norwin
Paul Shook (HM)	Sr.	M	Camp Hill, Pa./Trinity

 

Westminster
Name	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
David Evangelista (HM)	Grad.	D	Pittsburgh, Pa./Chartiers Valley
Gavin Jones (1)	Sr.	M	Henrico, Va./Douglas S. Freeman
Brody McGuinness	Sr.	LSM	Heber City, Utah/Wasatch
Brady Page (HM)	Jr.	A	Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley
Jimmy Sentz (HM)	Grad.	M	Catonsville, Md./Loyola Blakefield