WASHINGTON, Pa. – The three-time defending Presidents' Athletic Conference champions ensured that they will enter the 2024 conference tournament as the top seed following an 11-9 victory over visiting Grove City in the regular season finale Saturday afternoon for both teams.
The win is the 10th straight for W&J overall. The Presidents finish the regular season with a 9-0 conference mark and 10-6 overall.
The Wolverines slip to 7-2 in league play and 12-5 overall. Grove City will be the number three seed in next week's PAC Tournament.
Grove City netted a pair of goals in the opening two-plus minutes to take the early lead. W&J got on the board less than a minute later when
Aisa Uhler (East Lansing, Mich./East Lansing) scored an unassisted goal following a yellow card on the Wolverines.
The two teams went scoreless for more than eight minutes before
Caleigh Bogats (Oakdale, Pa./Chartiers Valley) scored off an assist from classmate
Mya Bolinda (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) to knot things up at 2-2 with 3:13 to play in the opening quarter.
Grove City's Taylor Blythe and W&J's Uhler exchanged scores late in the quarter to even the score at 3-3 after the opening 15 minutes.
The Wolverines used a Lucy Martin goal to regain the lead at the 9:31 mark of the second. However, the Presidents responded with three-straight goals to take their first lead.
Sofia Jenkins (Hughesville, Md./The Calverton School) scored off a pass from
Anna Kloehn (Canton, Ohio/Jackson) to make it 4-4 just 24 seconds later.
W&J got unassisted strikes from Bogats (5:04) and Kloehn (3:55) to take a 6-4 lead into halftime. The Presidents defense keyed the spurt, as they held the Wolverines scoreless for nearly 13 minutes overall.
Uhler opened the second half scoring with an unassisted goal which stretched the lead to three. Grove City countered with back-to-back scores and three of the next four to trim the W&J lead to 8-7 midway through the third.
Back-to-back scores by Bogats and Kloehn helped W&J build its lead back up to three. The unassisted goals made it 10-7 with 5:32 left in the third. Grove City scored at the 1:20 mark but W&J had a quick answer as Kloehn netted her third goal of the match to make it 11-8 entering the fourth.
It appeared as if both teams might go scoreless in the fourth. However, Grove City picked up a final goal with 43 seconds left to put the final score at 11-9.
Senior goalkeeper
Kaitlyn Brown (Charlotte Hall, Md./La Plata) enjoyed a special Senior Day. Brown became the program record holder for career saves. Brown, a four-year standout, surpasses Julie McLellan '13, who previously held the high-water mark with 534 saves.
Paige Howe (Bowie, Md./St. Johns) and
Ella Phillips (Arnold, Md./Broadneck) helped lead the defensive efforts in front of Brown. Howe had three ground balls and two caused turnovers. Phillips had two caused turnovers and two ground balls to go along with three draw controls.
Ella Holland (Healdsburg, Calif./Cardinal Newman) had a team-high three caused turnovers.
Bogats turned in a strong all-around effort. The sophomore finished with three goals, four ground balls, three draw controls and two caused turnovers.
Uhler led the Presidents with four goals. Kloehn finished with three goals and an assist in the victory. Jenkins had a team-best four draw controls.
W&J held a 28-25 edge in shots including a 23-16 margin on goal. Both teams had 18 successful clears. W&J outpaced Grove City by a 21-15 margin in ground balls. The Presidents held a 15-9 advantage in draw controls.
The Presidents now await their opponent in Thursday's tournament semifinals. W&J will match up with the winner of Tuesday's quarterfinals matchup between No. 4 Chatham and No. 5 Thiel. First draw in the semifinals will take place Thursday at 7 p.m. at Alexandre Stadium.
NOTE: W&J honored its five seniors – Brown, Howe, Jenkins,
Emily Heck (Reading, Pa./Berks Catholic) and Uhler, prior to Saturday's contest. The group has helped W&J earn three PAC titles, three appearances in the NCAA Tournament and a 47-16 overall record.
