Grove City College Athletics

GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Grove City College men's soccer program honored its eight-man senior class Saturday afternoon prior to its Presidents' Athletic Conference home match with Waynesburg University. Fittingly, two members of that octet combined for a go-ahead goal in the 89th minute to help the Wolverines (6-1-3, 4-0) earn a 2-1 win at Don Lyle Field.

Senior forward Ryan Merrick (Cranberry Township, Pa./Eden Christian) scored with 1:40 remaining in the match after receiving an assist from senior midfielder Noah Gray (Glen Mills, Pa./The Christian Academy). Merrick set a career high by scoring his sixth goal of the season, which also represented his fourth career game-winning score.

Gray gave Grove City a 1-0 lead at 12:37 when he converted a penalty kick for his team-leading seventh goal of the season.

Waynesburg (3-3-2, 1-2-1) tied the match at 58:58 on a goal by Sarpong Kwabiah. 

Grove City doubled up Waynesburg in both total shots (18-9) and shots on goal (8-4). The Wolverines accumulated eight corner kicks. Waynesburg had two corner kicks. 

Senior goalie Anthony D'Ippolito (Mars, Pa./Eden Christian) secured his second win of the season by stopping three shots. 

Prior to the match, Grove City honored seniors D'Ippolito, Gray, Merrick, defender Theo Campbell (Robinson Township, Pa./Robinson Township Christian), forward Carlo Denis (Greensburg, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic), midfielder Ryan Higgs (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair), defender Colton Hudson (Murrysville, Pa./Slippery Rock) and defender Jake Kimmich (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional). Saturday marked Grove City's final home regular season weekend match.

Gray now has 17 career assists. He moved into a tie for fourth in program history with Nate Jones (2002-05) and current head coach Mike Dreves, who had 17 assists from 1993 to 1996. Dreves, now in his 21st season as Grove City head coach, held the program record from 1996 to 2015. Seth Loew (2012-15) owns the program standard with 22 assists.

The Wolverines will visit Saint Francis at 4 p.m. Wednesday.