GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Grove City College men's lacrosse team captured its second straight Presidents' Athletic Conference title Saturday night by rolling to a 19-6 home win over archrival Westminster in the championship game of the 2021 PAC Championship Tournament at Robert E. Thorn Field.

By winning the conference title, Grove City earns an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament, which will begin next weekend. The tournament pairings will be announced Sunday night. 

Eight men scored Saturday night for the Wolverines (11-1), who have now won 10 straight games. Sophomore attack James Petrolle (Damascus, Md./Damascus) helped spark the offense with six goals while junior midfielder Brett Gladstone (Marriottsville, Md./Marriotts Ridge) fired in five goals. Junior midfielder Michael La Forte (Waterford, Conn./Waterford) added three goals. 

Junior attack Jed Speers (Medina, Ohio/Medina), junior midfielder/faceoff specialist Grant Evans (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper Saint Clair), junior long stick midfielder Addison Bennett (Haddonfield, N.J./Haddonfield), freshman midfielder Griffen Agawa (San Ramon, Calif./California) and freshman midfielder Gavin Wilson (McKinney, Texas/Cornerstone Christian) also scored in the victory.

Petrolle earned the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award. Bennett, Evans, Gladstone and La Forte joined him on the All-Tournament Team.

Gladstone and Petrolle each pumped in three goals in the opening period to help Grove City grab a 6-2 lead. The Wolverines then broke open the game by scoring six consecutive goals in the second quarter. Five men accounted for those six goals. Petrolle scored twice in the run while Agawa, Bennett, Evans and La Forte also scored. La Forte scored again with 54 seconds left in the half to give Grove City a 13-4 halftime lead.

La Forte and freshman Jack Carpenter (Newtown, Conn./St. Joseph) both assisted three goals while Gladstone, Petrolle and Speers each tallied two assists. Agawa and senior defender Patrick Mark (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla./Wellington) each recorded an assist. 

Bennett led the defense with five caused turnovers and junior Cody Adams (Pullman, Wash./Pullman) caused three turnovers. Gladstone, La Forte, Mark, freshman Prince Ayvion (Frederick, Md./Tuscarora) and senior Jared Hurd (Spring Mills, Pa./Penns Valley) all caused two turnovers. Overall, Grove CIty forced Westminster to commit 32 turnovers. 

Evans won 15 of 22 faceoffs. He recorded a team-high 12 ground balls. Gladstone picked up five ground balls and sophomore defender Bailey Decker (Howard, Pa./Bellefonte) recorded four ground balls. Bennett, Hurd and Wilson had three ground balls. 

Sophomore Jack Petit (Pensacola, Fla./West Florida High School of Advanced Technology) made four saves in 45 minutes in goal, earning the win. Junior R.J. Miller (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks East) made three saves in the fourth quarter. 

Grove City outshot Westminster (9-5) by a 54-21 margin. Grove City held a 31-13 edge in shots on goal. Grove City had 21 turnovers. 

The Wolverines also defeated Westminster for the 2019 conference title. Grove City will be making its second all-time appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament. The 2021 season marked the second full season of men's lacrosse in the Presidents' Athletic Conference.