TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - With victories in their semifinal round games Wednesday night, No. 1 Grove City College and No. 2 Chatham University have advanced to the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Men's Lacrosse Tournament Championship Game, which will be Saturday at 7 pm on Grove City's campus.

The top-seeded Wolverines (12-7) exploded for 11 first-quarter goals and were in control throughout their 26-7 victory over No. 4 Westminster College (10-8). The other semifinal was tied entering the fourth quarter, but Chatham scored three times while holding third-seeded Saint Vincent College scoreless to come away with a 10-7 victory.

In the Grove City victory, Wolverine graduate student Luke Rios (Centennial, Colo./Cherry Creek) won the opening faceoff, gathered the ground ball, passed to sophomore Tyson Bui (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton), who scored just eight seconds into the game and the flood gates opened. Seven different Grove City players scored in the first 15 minutes, highlighted by three goals from junior Stewart McClain (Lancaster, Pa./Lampeter Strasburg), as the Wolverines took an 11-0 lead into the second quarter. 

The lead continued to grow in the second quarter, with Grove City tacking on seven more goals before Westminster would get on the board. Titan senior Gavin Jones (Henrico, Va./Douglas S. Freeman) scored the final goal of the half to make it an 18-1 Wolverine halftime lead.

The wide margin allowed Grove City to substitute freely in the second half, as 36 players would hit the stat sheet in some way by the final horn. One highlight to the second half was McClain completing a seven-goal outing with three straight scores in the fourth quarter, as he added three assists to finish with 10 points in the match-up.

Overall, 11 different Wolverines logged goals. Senior Matt Blythe (Mendon, N.Y. Honeoye Falls-Lima) found the back of the net four times, while senior Zachary Hougan (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro) compiled three goals and six assists and graduate student Luke Jayne (Vero Beach, Fla./Saint Edward's) managed three goals and a pair of assists. Grove City won 32-of-35 faceoffs in the game, marked by Rios going 15-for-15. Collecting a team-high eight ground balls was sophomore Logan Fox (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Christian), while junior Boden Davidson (Scottsdale, Ariz./Scottsdale Christian) scooped five.

For the Titans (10-8), freshman Ethan Kurtz (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) had three points with two goals and one assist and Jones scored twice.

The Chatham/Saint Vincent semifinal was originally scheduled to be played at Chatham, but due to continued power outages in Pittsburgh from storms on Tuesday, the site was flipped to Saint Vincent. The Bearcats (9-8) enjoyed the home field in the first quarter, scoring the final three goals of the period to build a 4-1 lead.

The momentum flipped to Chatham in the second, as the Cougars bounced back to take the lead by halftime. Chatham sophomore Tanner Marsh (Windsor, Colo./Berkshire School), who assisted on two earlier goals, scored two of his own in the final minute. After striking for his first with 58 seconds left, Marsh added his second with just three ticks on the clock to send the Cougars into the intermission with a 6-5 lead.

A low-scoring third quarter saw Chatham make it 7-5 on a goal from junior Jacob Lubawy (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) at the 12:28 mark. That would be their only goal of the period and the Bearcats rallied to tie the game with scores by junior Jonathan Nagy (York, Pa./Central York) and sophomore Cam Herring (Hanover, Pa./New Oxford) late in the quarter to even the game at 7-7 with one period to play.

The Cougars broke the tie on a Lubawy goal with 11:24 to play and then added two insurance goals 28 seconds apart in the late stages of the game. An SVC penalty gave Chatham a man-up opportunity and 12 seconds later, senior Ethan Rinker (Laurel, Md./St. Vincent Palotti) scored with 4:46 left. A Cougar win on the faceoff led to a goal at 4:18 by graduate student Isaac Joshi (Cary, NC/The Loomis Chaffee School) and Chatham had a three-goal cushion at 10-7.

Even with Saint Vincent pushing to cut into their deficit, the Bearcats would not score again, as Chatham senior goalie Zen Smith (Herndon, Va./South Lakes) made three of his 14 saves in the last 2:30 of the game to thwart any potential SVC comeback and preserve the first postseason victory in Chatham men's lacrosse program history.

Picking up a game-high four points apiece was Marsh and Lubawy for Chatham, as they both had two goals and two assists, while Rinker finished the night with a hat trick. In addition to his 14 saves, Smith also had a team-high four ground balls, which was matched by sophomore Jessie Corser-James (Fort Collins, Colo./The Hill School (Pa.)). Recording four caused turnovers and three GBs in the victory was junior Ethan Joshi (Cary, NC/Gentry Academy (MN)).

The Bearcat efforts were led by Nagy with a pair of goals and one assist, while senior Brady Beard (Shepherdstown, W.Va./Spring Mills) won 10 faceoffs and collected a team-best five ground balls.

Saturday's championship game will pit Grove City, who is in pursuit of their sixth straight PAC crown, against Chatham, who will bring a seven-game winning streak into the final. The last loss for the Cougars was on April 2nd in their first meeting with Grove City, which ended with a 17-5 Wolverine victory. 

2025 Presidents' Athletic Conference Men's Lacrosse Championship
Semifinals - Wednesday, April 30 - campus sites
No. 2 Chatham 10, No. 3 Saint Vincent 7 - Box Score
No. 1 Grove City 26, No. 4 Westminster 7 - Box Score

Championship - Saturday, May 3
No. 2 Chatham (12-5) at No. 1 Grove City (12-7) - 7 pm