GROVE CITY, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - Eleven Grove City College men's lacrosse players scored goals in the first half Wednesday afternoon as the host Wolverines rolled to an 18-3 win over Albion (12-9) at Robert E. Thorn Field in the first round of the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament. 

Grove City (14-7) advances to play at No. 4 Christopher Newport in the second round Saturday at 12 p.m. in Newport News, Va.

Grove City led 5-1 after one quarter and pushed the lead to 11-2 by halftime as 11 men each scored once in the first 30 minutes. 

Senior midfielder Alec Jones (Chesterfield, N.J./Notre Dame) helped pace Grove City by scoring a season-high three goals. Graduate student midfielder Luke Jayne (Vero Beach, Fla./Saint Edward's) scored twice, as did sophomores Sawyer Strong (Westfield, Ind./Westfield), Tyson Bui (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton) and Evan Curry (Huntington Beach, Calif./Mater Dei). 

Bui and Jayne both added assists to finish with three-point afternoons. Senior attack Matt Blythe (Mendon, N.Y./Honeoye Falls-Lima) also recorded three points with a goal and two assists. Grove City also received goals from senior attack Zachary Hougan (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro), senior midfielder Jason Muench (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park), junior attack Rigdon Greene (Marietta, Ga./Pope), junior attack Stewart McClain (Lancaster, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg), sophomore attack Davis Schneider (Winfield, Ill./Wheaton Academy) and sophomore midfielder Logan Fox (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Christian).

Senior midfielder Trey Zabroski (Mountain Top, Pa./Crestwood) recorded a pair of assists. Junior attack Mac Faircloth (Greensboro, N.C./Page), junior midfielder Boden Davidson (Scottsdale, Ariz./Scottsdale Christian) and junior defender Sam Stevenson (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove) each assisted one goal.

Grove City outshot the Britons, 57-32, including a 34-13 margin in shots on goal. Grove City committed 20 turnovers while Albion had 23 turnovers. 

Zabroski caused three turnovers and sophomore midfielder Joshua McDermott (San Juan Capistrano, Calif./Santa Margarita) caused two turnovers. Zabroski also led the Wolverines by picking up six ground balls. Junior defender Andrew Glasgow (Wooster, Ohio/Wooster) and junior faceoff specialist Colton Lehberg (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif./Santa Fe Christian) both had five ground balls. Stevenson secured four ground balls. 

Graduate student Luke Rios (Centennial, Colo./Cherry Creek) won 10 of his 11 faceoffs. Lehberg won 7 of 11 faceoffs and Glasgow went 3-0 in faceoffs. 

Graduate student goalie Danny Stone (Chantilly, Va./Flint Hill) made nine saves in 45 minutes of action to earn the victory. Junior Tyler Gladstone (Marriottsville, Md./Marriotts Ridge) made one save while blanking Albion in the fourth quarter. 

Grove City played all 32 active men in the game. Wednesday's game marked the first-ever home NCAA Tournament game for the Wolverines. It represented the first NCAA Tournament event in any sport played on campus since November 1985, when the Grove City women's volleyball team hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA Division III Tournament that season. 

Saturday's game will be the Wolverines' second trip this year to Christopher Newport. The Captains edged visiting Grove City in double overtime March 1, 14-13. 

The Grove City-Christopher Newport winner will play either Stevenson or Lynchburg. Those two squads will play Saturday at 3 p.m. in Newport News.

Contributed by Grove City Sports Information