GROVE CITY, Pa. -- Freshman forward
Jayden Da (Rockville, Md./Richard Montgomery) tallied a goal and an assist to propel the Washington & Jefferson College men's soccer team to a 2-1 victory over Grove City Tuesday evening in the Presidents' Athletic Conference Semifinals at Don Lyle Field.
No. 3 seed W&J will host No. 4 seed Westminster in the PAC Championship match Friday evening with a 7 p.m. kickoff at Alexandre Stadium. After playing to a 1-1 double overtime draw, Westminster edge top-seeded Geneva in penalty kicks Tuesday evening in Beaver Falls. Earlier this spring, W&J defeated Westminster by a 4-2 score in the season opener for both teams on March 13.
This will be the second meeting between the two schools in the PAC Championship match. The Titans prevailed over the Presidents with a 2-1 overtime victory in the 2008 title tilt. Friday's match will mark the first time since 2010 that the No. 3 seed vs No. 4 seed will meet in the PAC Championship match.
After a scoreless first half,
Jake Fetterman (Pottstown, Pa./The Hill School) put W&J on the board first with a goal in the 52nd minute. Fetterman finished a header high left off a perfect pass from Da to give W&J a 1-0 edge. The assist was the PAC leading fifth of the season for Da.
Da tacked on an insurance goal when he scored unassisted in the 74th minute of play. Da beat the defense and sent his shot past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net to extend the W&J lead to 2-0. The goal was the team-leading sixth of the season for Da, who leads the PAC with 17 points.
It was too little too late for Grove City, who scored its lone goal with just four seconds remaining in the match. Bryce Deaven registered the goal off an assist from Drew Yun.
Each of the last four meetings between W&J and Grove City have been decided by a single goal. W&J has won three of the four meetings.
W&J held advantages in shots (11-7) and shots on goal (6-3). Each team recorded three corner kicks in the match.
Samuel Miller (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg) made two saves in the victory for W&J.
The win improves W&J to 7-2-1 overall. Grove City wraps up its season with a 7-2 record.
NOTES: W&J earned its second-straight trip to the championship tournament's title match with Tuesday's semifinal win. Tuesday was W&J's second-straight year defeating Grove City by a 2-1 score in the semifinal round. The Presidents won last year's title, which was their first PAC championship since 2007.
