WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson men's lacrosse team was unable to find an answer against the PAC-leading Wolverines of Grove City, as the Presidents fell 17-4 on Wednesday evening. 

After taking the loss, W&J falls to 7-8 overall this season and are now mathematically eliminated from the PAC playoffs with a 2-4 league record. As for Grove City, it is now 9-5 overall and holds a perfect conference record at 6-0. 

After outscoring W&J in the first quarter, 4-0, the Wolverines exploded in the second period with eight goals. Leading 12-0 at the halftime break, Grove City added five more goals in the second half to secure the 17-4 victory. 

The Presidents began to get their offense going in the third quarter, scoring the first two goals of the period. Mark Mandak (Enola, Pa./Trinity) tallied the initial goal, while Alex Strain (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper Saint Clair) posted the next one with an assist from Pat Brunner (Ellicott City, Md./Mount Saint Joseph) about two minutes later. 

Brunner finished out the game by scoring W&J's final two goals in the fourth quarter. Both Strain and Pat Heidecker (Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg Area) earned an assist on one of Brunner's goals. 

Brunner led the Presidents with three points (2G, 1A), while Strain was not far behind with two points (1G, 1A). 

On defense, Joseph Tritschler (New Kensington, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic) paced W&J with two caused turnovers to go along with three ground balls. Nicholas Grosch (Sarasota, Fla./Butler) finished the game with four ground balls. 

In goal, Noah Cohen (Hewlett, N.Y./George W. Hewlett) played all 60 minutes and made 20 saves. To go along with a team-high five ground balls The junior is up to 205 saves on the season, which stands as the fifth most in single-season program history. 

The Presidents conclude the 2019 campaign with a 3 p.m. bout against Thiel on Saturday, April 27, at Alexandre Stadium. W&J will hold its Senior Day festivities before Saturday's tilt.