Grove City College Athletics

GROVE CITY, Pa. -- It took nearly nine full seasons, but the Grove City College men's lacrosse team now has a shutout victory on its ledger.

Wednesday night, senior goalie Tyler Gladstone (Marriottsville, Md./Marriotts Ridge) recorded 15 saves to capture an 18-0 home win at Robert E. Thorn Field over Westminster in the Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship Tournament semifinals. The win sends top-seeded Grove City (12-7) into Saturday's championship round against Chatham.

While Grove City's defense led the way for the program's first-ever shutout, the Wolverine offense again used a balanced attack to take command of Wednesday's game. Eleven men scored for Grove City, led by three-goal outings from senior attacks Mac Faircloth (Greensboro, N.C./Page) and Stewart McClain (Lancaster, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg). 

Senior defender Sam Stevenson (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove), senior attack Rigdon Greene (Marietta, Ga./Pope) and junior attack Davis Schneider (Winfield, Ill./Wheaton Academy) all scored twice. The Wolverines also received goals from senior defender Andrew Glasgow (Wooster, Ohio/Wooster), junior defender Evan Curry (Huntingdon Beach, Calif./Mater Dei), freshman attack Jake Parker (Edgewater, Md./St. Mary's Annapolis), freshman midfielder Zach Moravec (West Chicago, Ill./Wheaton Academy), freshman midfielder Caden Ryan (Reading, Pa./Schuylkill Valley) and freshman midfielder Tucker Saums (Greensboro, N.C./Northwest Guilford).

Faircloth finished with a seven-point night as he also assisted on four goals. Junior midfielder Tyson Bui (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton) recorded three assists. Gladstone, Greene, Saums, senior faceoff specialist Colton Lehberg (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif./Santa Fe Christian), junior midfielder Josh McDermott (San Juan Capistrano, Calif./Santa Margarita), sophomore midfielder Ethan Binns (Saint Johns, Fla./The Bolles School) and freshman midfielder Mason Lyons (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) all tallied one assist. 

Faircloth and Stevenson scored in the first quarter to give Grove City a 2-0 lead after 15 minutes. The Wolverines then broke open the game by scoring seven times in a five-minute span of the second period. McClain opened the scoring at 12:56 after receiving an assist from Faircloth. Eleven seconds later Bui assisted Glasgow's goal. 

Schneider followed with a man-up goal and McClain tallied his second goal of the game 19 seconds later. After Faircloth and McClain both scored again, Schneider closed the flurry with another man-up goal. 

Grove City led 9-0 at halftime and owned a 14-0 lead entering the fourth quarter. 

The Wolverine amassed a 47-24 edge in total shots, including a 31-15 margin in shots on goal. Grove City had 23 turnovers while fourth-seeded Westminster (12-7) finished with 20 turnovers. 

Stevenson and junior midfielder Griffin Fox (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Christian) both caused two turnovers. Stevenson, Bui and Clark all picked up four ground balls. Lehberg and junior faceoff specialist Evan Gill (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) both led Grove City by collecting seven ground balls. Gill won 11 of 12 faceoffs while Lehberg recorded a 9-for-10 effort on faceoffs. 

Grove City's shutout is the first in the seven-year history of the Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship Tournament. 

Second-seeded Chatham defeated No. 3 Saint Vincent in the other conference tournament semifinal held Wednesday night, 16-6. Grove City earned an 18-7 win March 28 at Chatham during the regular season. The Wolverines defeated Chatham in last year's conference tournament title game at Thorn Field, 22-7.