Seton Hill hosted third seed Davenport in the Great Midwest Conference Title Game on Saturday afternoon at DSG Field in Greensburg, PA.
The Griffins used a 4-1 second quarter advantage to take control of the contest as they defeated the Panthers 16-10 to win their fifth G-MAC title. It is back to back championships for the Griffins. SHU is now 16-2 overall and earns the G-MAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Davenport got on the scoreboard first with a goal with just under 10 minutes to play in the first quarter. The Griffins responded with goals from
Nate Herbster and
Dexter Hannigan to lead 2-1 with 3:58 left in the first. Twenty seconds later the Panthers tied the score at two.
Kaden Granberg scored with 10 seconds left in the first quarter as SHU took a 3-2 lead.
The Panthers tied the score at three with a goal with 12:30 left in the second quarter. Seton Hill then scored the final four of the second quarter as they took a 7-3 lead at the halftime break. Herbster and
Carter Li scored just over a minute a part to put the Griffins in front 5-3.
Riley Grudi and
Carter Green scored just 22 seconds a part to give SHU a four goal advantage.
Goals from Hannigan and Grudi put the Griffins in front 9-3 with 12:53 left in the third. The Panthers scored with 8:06 left to trim the lead to five. Li and
Eliot Schratz extended the lead to 11-4 with 5:24 left. Davenport scored two of the final three goals of the quarter with Li scoring for SHU as the Griffins led 12-6 after three quarters of action.
The Panthers scored three of the first four goals in the fourth quarter as the cut the SHU lead to 13-9 with 6:33 left. Hannigan and Herbster scored to push the lead back to 15-9 with 4:08 left. Li scored the final goal for the Griffins.
Li led SHU with four goals. Hannigan scored three times and added an assist. Herbster also scored three times.
Carter Green added 2 goals and 3 assists.
Will Cody finished with 9 saves.
SHU will find out their opponent and site when the NCAA announces their men's lacrosse championship bracket on Sunday evening at 10 PM.