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LATROBE, Pa. (May 3) - Joe Puvel scored a career-high four goals as the Saint Vincent men's lacrosse team toppled Thiel 14-9 in the Ohio River Lacrosse Conference Semifinals at Chuck Noll Field.

With the victory the Bearcats now advance to the ORLC Men's Lacrosse Championship game at top seeded Transylvania University in Lexington, Ky. on Saturday, May 6. Start time is set for 1 p.m. at Pat Deacon Stadium. The winner of Saturday's championship game earns the automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Tournament. 

Both Saint Vincent and Thiel struggled offensively in the opening quarter of the contest. The Tomcats scored the initial goal of the contest when Mike Bryant tallied an unassisted score at the 9:05 mark of the first quarter. Nearly seven minutes later, Jon Succop scored off a pass from Alex Mueser to tie the contest at 1-1 with 2:12 left in the first. Bryant would tack on another to give Thiel a 2-1 advantage after 15 minutes of play.

The Bearcats found their offensive rhythm in the second quarter, outscoring the visiting Tomcats 4-1 in the quarter. Puvel tied the game at 2-2 with an unassisted score at the 11:45 mark. Hunter Sharp tallied an unassisted goal with 10:40 left in the second quarter, a lead the Bearcats would not relinquish. Jeremy Kennedy scored with 5:14 left in the half to make it 4-2. The Tomcats would pull within a goal momentarily before Puvel added another goal, giving the Bearcats a 5-3 halftime advantage. 

After Thiel scored 10 seconds into the third quarter, SVC responded with back-to-back goals by Sharp and Frank Casile, making the score 7-4 at the 7:29 mark. The two teams would exchange the next four goals to make it 9-6 with 2:21 left in the third, with the Bearcat goals coming from Puvel and Mueser. The Bearcats looked poised to take a three-goal lead into the final quarter. However, a failed clear gave Thiel a score with just six seconds left on the quarter clock, making it 9-7 after three quarters. 

Sharp opened the fourth quarter scoring with a goal off a pass from Mueser at the 13:51 mark. However, Thiel answered with back-to-back goals, bringing the deficit to just a single goal (10-9) with 12:36 to play. The Bearcats would finish the game on a 4-0 run to seal the victory and a spot in Saturday's ORLC Final. Mueser and Puvel, finished off a big day for the duo, as they combined for three of those final four scores.

Aside from Puvel's breakout game, Mueser recorded his second hat trick of the season in the victory. Sharp chipped in a three-goal performance, while Kennedy had two goals and an assist. 

John Wohlin once again put together a strong performance on face-offs, winning 11 of 14 and picking up six ground balls in the contest. Trevor Hough, Keith Findle and Ben Price added five ground ball pick ups each, while Michael Grus had a season-high seven caused turnovers and four ground balls. Connor McMillen stopped 10 shots in net to pick up the victory. 

Saint Vincent held a 40-29 advantage in shots, including a 16-4 margin in the fourth quarter. The Bearcats gained a 43-34 differential in ground balls, while also winning 19 of 26 face-offs. 

Winners of nine of their past 11 games, the Bearcats move to 9-7 overall for the season. Thiel finishes 2017 at 10-5 overall. 

SVC and Transylvania will meet for the second time in three years for the ORLC Championship. The Pioneers claimed the 2015 title with a 12-5 victory over the Bearcats.