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The Saint Vincent men's lacrosse team advanced to the Ohio River Lacrosse Conference championship game with an 8-6 victory over Grove City in the semifinal round at Chuck Noll Field. 

The top-seeded Bearcats will host second-seeded Transylvania University in the ORLC Tournament championship game Saturday, May 5 at Chuck Noll Field. The Pioneers defeated third-seeded Hanover College by a 13-11 score in the tournament's other semifinal contest. Start time for Saturday's championship game has been set for 1 p.m. 

For the second time this season, the Bearcats and Wolverines were locked in a defensive battle for most of the game. The visitors tallied an early goal to take a 1-0 lead over the host Bearcats just a minute and a half into the game.

The Bearcats countered less than four minutes later when Hunter Sharp assisted a goal by Jeremy Kennedy to tie the game at 1-1. Both offenses were held in check for the final 9:40 of the first quarter. 

Grove City regained the lead when they used a man-up goal to take a 2-1 edge at the 7:43 mark of the second quarter. Saint Vincent stole the momentum back when Kennedy and Frank Casile registered back-to-back goals over the course of a 44 second span, making it 3-2 Bearcats with 6:00 left in the first half. The score remained 3-2 in favor of the Bearcats into the halftime break. 

Saint Vincent ripped off four straight goals to start the third quarter, pushing its advantage to 7-2 with 52 seconds showing on the clock. Casile opened the second half scoring before Kennedy recorded his 64th score of the season. Ben Price and Alex Mueser added a goal each to extend the lead. The Wolverines would not go quietly, as the visitors scored a goal with 18 seconds left in the third to make the score 7-3. 

Grove City would continue its attempt at a comeback, tallying three straight goals to open the fourth quarter, closing the Wolverines' deficit to a single score at 7-6. The Bearcats ended any chance of an upset when Sharp tallied a key insurance goal with 2:38 to play to make it 8-6. 

Saint Vincent held advantages in shots (36-23), ground balls (37-28) and face-off wins (14-4). Each team recorded 10 saves and committed 19 turnovers. Each team was also successful on 20 clear attempts. 

Kennedy led the Bearcat offense with four points (3g, 1a), while Casile added two goals in the victory. John Wohlin was key on the face-off, winning 8-of-10 attempts and adding a team-best seven ground balls. Michael Grus, Ryan Sosnak and Luke Falvo recorded two caused turnovers each on the defensive side. Brandon Martin made 10 saves, including six in the second half. 

Saint Vincent moves to 15-3 overall, while Grove City ends its season at 10-6. The win was a school record 12th straight for the Bearcats. 

The win advances Saint Vincent to the ORLC Championship game for the third time in four years. This marks the first time that Saint Vincent will host a conference championship game since the 2014 season. 

Saint Vincent rallied to defeat Transylvania by a 11-10 score at Pat Deacon Stadium in Lexington, Ky. back on March 25. Kennedy led the way with three goals, including the game-winning score with 1:05 left to play.