LEXINGTON, Va. — One day after earning the program’s first-ever NCAA Championship Tournament victory, the Grove City College men’s lacrosse team pushed No. 9 Washington & Lee to the brink Sunday afternoon in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
However, the Generals broke a 10-10 in the fourth quarter by scoring the final three goals of the game to earn a 13-10 win over visiting Grove City at Wilson Field.
Grove City trailed 10-8 early in the fourth quarter before forging the seventh and final tie of the afternoon. Sophomore attack Matt Blythe scored an unassisted goal with 12:15 left, then added a man-up goal exactly three minutes later to tie the game at 10. Junior midfielder Luke Jayne assisted Blythe’s tying goal.
W&L won the ensuing faceoff, however, and Alex Brown broke the 10-10 tie by scoring at the 9:05 mark. Hillis Burns scored twice in the final 3:26 to seal the win, which is the school-record 18th victory of the season for the Generals.
Seven men scored for Grove City, led by Blythe’s three-goal outing. Sophomore attack Zachary Hougan scored twice. Jayne, junior midfielder Griffen Agawa, freshman attack Kobi Bui, senior midfielder Brett Gladstone and sophomore midfielder Trey Zabroski also scored.
Jayne and freshman midfielder Boden Davidson both recorded a pair of assists for Grove City. Zabroski and freshman long stick midfielder Ryan Evans each added assists.
Senior defender Brock Simmons led Grove City with four ground balls. Gladstone and senior defender Cody Adams each recorded three ground balls.
Freshman defender Sam Stevenson caused a game-high four turnovers. Evans caused two turnovers. The Wolverines forced 22 W&L turnovers. Grove City turned over possession 15 times.
Washington & Lee outshot Grove City, 45-36, including a 12-5 margin in the fourth quarter. In goal, senior Jack Petit stopped 14 shots in 58:46 of action. Freshman Tyler Gladstone played the final 1:14.
Brown scored with 22 seconds left in the first half to give W&L a 7-6 halftime lead. He led Washington & Lee with four goals. Boots Lackey tallied a game-high seven ground balls for the Generals, who will face Salisbury in the national quarterfinals next weekend.
Grove City (11-9) and W&L met April 21 in Grove City, with the Generals earning a 20-10 win at Robert E. Thorn Field. Saturday, Grove City earned its first-ever NCAA Tournament win by defeating No. 14 Swarthmore in overtime, 18-17, at Washington & Lee. W&L defeated Centre in Saturday’s first game, 21-10.
Grove City will lose Adams, long stick midfielder Addison Bennett, defender Charley Brannan, faceoff specialist Max Chmura, long stick midfielder Kyle Coogan, defender Bailey Decker, Brett Gladstone, midfielder David Kraus, Petit, attack James Petrolle and Simmons to graduation.