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LATROBE, Pa. (May 1) - The Saint Vincent men's lacrosse team used a strong start to help them to a 12-8 victory over Thiel College in the Ohio River Lacrosse Conference Semifinal round at Chuck Noll Field.

With the win the Bearcats improve to 9-6 overall on the season. Second-seeded Saint Vincent will travel to top-seeded Transylvania University on Sunday, May 3 for the ORLC Championship. The Pioneers beat the Bearcats 6-3 back on April 11. Thiel ends its season with a 10-5 overall mark.

For the second consecutive match against the Tomcats, SVC got off to a fast start. The Bearcats dominated the first quarter of play, racing out to a 5-0 advantage after 15 minutes of play.

Tim Oxenreiter opened the match with the first goal with 10:42 remaining in the first quarter. Patrick Kenna scored less than a minute later to make it 2-0 SVC. Jon Souders added another goal and then Nick Pensyl tallied two scores to push the lead to 5-0.

Thiel battled back in the second quarter, outscoring the Bearcats 4-2, cutting the SVC edge to 6-4 at halftime.

The Tomcats cut the Bearcats' lead to a single goal twice in the third quarter but SVC answered both times with goals. Pensyl scored off a pass from Oxenreiter, making it 7-5. Then later Bryce Pasquariello tallied a goal, making it 8-6 after three quarters.

Pasquariello and Pensyl combined for three of the four Bearcat goals over the final 15 minutes, helping SVC earn their second victory in six days over the Tomcats.

Pensyl tallied several milestones in the victory. The senior set the single-season points record, surpassing Dan Keating's previous high of 68 in 2000. Pensyl also tied the single-season goal record, matching Ryan Elwell's season-best total of 50 back in 2001. Finally, Pensyl moved into fifth place all-time in career goals.

Pensyl totaled seven points, while Oxenreiter chipped in five points. Kenna again led the way defensively, picking up 13 ground balls to go along with his goal.

SVC held advantages over Thiel in shots (44-38), ground balls (51-38) and face-offs (19-4).