MEADVILLE, Pa. (May 1) – The Saint Vincent College men's lacrosse team's season came to a close with a 16-12 loss to Allegheny College in the semifinals of the 2024 Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship Tournament.
 
With Saint Vincent (8-9) holding a one-goal lead in the opening moments of the third quarter, Allegheny (10-6) responded by scoring six unanswered goals to open up a 15-10 advantage with less than 10 minutes left in regulation. The Bearcats scored two late fourth quarter goals but were unable to complete the comeback effort. 
 
Playing in his final collegiate game, Jordan Billet led the Bearcats with five points, on four goals and one assist. Also making their final appearances, Caleb Hawkins and Carter Haid each registered three points, with Haid scoring two goals with one assist, and Hawkins one goal with two helpers. Liam McCall also tallied a three-point night, on two goals and one assist, while Jacob Crumling recorded a pair of assists. Owen Rogers and Cam Herring each scored one goal in the loss.
 
Brady Beard snared 12 ground balls to lead all players, while Herring and RJ Kenna scooped up five GBs, and Kenna recording a team-best four caused turnovers.

Jack Zayas started and went the distance in goal, registering 10 saves.
 
In the first quarter, each team scored within the game's first two minutes, with McCall notching SVC's goal, before the Gators answered with three unanswered tallies in a five-minute span to open up a 4-1 lead with 6:45 left in the quarter. After a four-minute scoreless span, the Bearcats took control to close the quarter. Rogers closed the gap to 4-2 with a goal off of an assist from Billet, before Billet scored two goals over the final minute of the quarter, including the game-tying goal with 11 seconds left, to even the score at 4-4 at the end of the frame.
 
After the Gators scored the first goal of the second quarter to take a 5-4 lead, the Bearcats answered back with unanswered tallies from Carter Haid and Hawkins to take their first lead of the night, 6-5, with 10:59 left in the half. The teams would then trade goals over the final seven minutes of the half, with Billet, McCall and Tyler Harpst scoring for the Bearcats, to send the game into the intermission tied at 9-9.
 
Over an opening half in which the two teams shared four ties and two lead changes, the Bearcats outshot the Gators, 30-19.
 
Haid's second goal of the night gave SVC back a 10-9 lead just 56 seconds into the third quarter, but the Gators responded with their decisive run, as they opened up a 13-10 lead at the close of the quarter, before extending it to 15-10 with 9:26 left in regulation.
 
Fifteen seconds later, Herring's unassisted tally halted the Allegheny surge and trimmed the deficit to 15-11, before Billet scored his fourth of the night to make it a three-goal game with 6:30 remaining. After both teams shared a pair of lengthy scoreless possessions, the Gators added an insurance marker with 2:52 left to extend the margin to 16-12. The Gators then controlled possession over the remainder of the game, preventing any SVC scoring chances down the stretch to ice the game.

The Bearcats outshot the Gators 50-45 on the night, as Allegheny goalie Garit Stearns recorded 16 saves. 
 
Billet and Hawkins will leave the program as two of the most prolific scorers in the team's 37-year history. Billet amassed 238 points, 147 goals and 91 assists over his career, all good for third all-time in team history, while Hawkins' 208 points are good for fifth all-time, 80 assists fourth and 128 goals sixth.  
 
Allegheny, seeded No. 2 in the PAC Championship Tournament, advances to the conference title match on Saturday at top-seeded Grove City.