DELAWARE, Ohio – The Grove City College men's lacrosse team bolted to a 7-0 lead Wednesday afternoon on the way to a 14-9 victory at Ohio Wesleyan in the first round of the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament at Selby Field.
The win sends Grove City (14-7) to the second round of the tournament Saturday, when the Wolverines will visit Lynchburg at 12 p.m.
Senior attack
Stewart McClain (Lancaster, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg) fired in four goals to pace the Wolverines while senior attack
Mac Faircloth (Greensboro, N.C./Page), junior midfielder
Tyson Bui (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton) and sophomore midfielder
Ethan Binns (Saint Johns, Fla./The Bolles School) all scored twice.
Junior defender
Nate Clark (Oakwood, Ohio/Oakwood), junior defender
Evan Curry (Huntington Beach, Calif./Mater Dei), junior attack
Davis Schneider (Winfield, Ill./Wheaton Academy) and junior defensive midfielder
Logan Fox (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Christian) also scored.
McClain scored off a Faircloth assist 72 seconds into the game while Faircloth's goal doubled the lead at 12:21. McClain scored his second goal after a Bui assist as the lead grew to 3-0 four minutes into the game.
Bui scored a pair of man-up goals while Clark and Curry also scored in the opening period.
Ohio Wesleyan (11-7) cut the lead to 8-3 by halftime and eventually whittled the lead to 10-7 midway through the third quarter. However, Binns and Schneider scored unassisted goals to give the Wolverines a 12-8 lead after 45 minutes.
McClain and Binns then scored in the fourth quarter to sew up the win.
Bui and Faircloth both furnished a pair of assists. McClain, senior attack
Rigdon Greene (Marietta, Ga./Pope) and freshman midfielder
Jake Olson (Chesapeake Beach, Md./St. Mary's Ryken) also had an assist.
Clark led the Wolverines with seven ground balls. Fox, senior long stick midfielder
Andrew Glasgow (Wooster, Ohio/Wooster) and senior defender
Sam Stevenson (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove) each collected four ground balls.
Senior goalie
Tyler Gladstone (Marriottsville, Md./Marriotts Ridge) stopped 12 shots to preserve the victory. He added three ground balls.
Each team finished with 21 shots on goal. Ohio Wesleyan owned a 42-28 edge in total shots. Grove City committed 21 turnovers while the Battling Bishops had 17 turnovers.
Wednesday's win marked Grove City's third all-time NCAA Tournament victory and the first in a true road game. Grove City defeated visiting Albion last year in the opening round. In 2023, Grove City defeated Swarthmore, 18-17, at Washington & Lee University.
Grove City defeated Ohio Wesleyan during the regular season in overtime February 14 by a 14-13 score on McClain's overtime tally.
Saturday's meeting with Lynchburg will be the first meeting between the programs. The Grove City-Lynchburg winner will face York (Pa.) or Colorado College in the third round of the tournament Sunday.
