DENVER, Colo. – The Westminster men's lacrosse team advanced to the semi-finals of MCLA National Championship with an upset 14-11 win over No. 2 seed Dayton on Wednesday afternoon. The 10th-seeded Griffins outscored Dayton 7-4 in the final 15 minutes to improve to 13-7 on the season while ending Dayton's season at 11-2.

It appeared that Dayton had all the momentum after they scored two in 10 seconds late in the first quarter to take a 3-1 lead into the first break. Westminster responded with a 3-0 second quarter, including two man-up goals to lead 4-3 at the half. The third quarter featured four ties and when Josh Condas scored late in the quarter it was tied at 7-7 with 15 minutes to play.

Westminster opened up a 10-7 lead with 12 minutes remaining after goals from Matt Balk, Hayden Dixon, and Kellen Lynn. However, Dayton bounced right back with three goals to tie the game at 10 with 11:56 remaining. Jimmy Nguyen scored with 6:20 remaining for the eventual game winner. Condas scored his fourth goal 45 seconds later and Gian Sexsmith recorded two empty-net goals down the stretch to seal the victory.

Condas and Sexsmith finished with four goals each while Lynn added two goals. The Griffins scored three times with a man advantage while allowing just one goal by Dayton in that situation. Dallas McLellan was stellar between the pipes making 18 saves for the Griffins.

Westminster will now face in-state rival Utah Valley in a semi-final contest on Friday at 11 a.m. This will be the third meeting between the two RMLC teams with each having claimed one victory over the other this season. The game will be played inside Dick's Sporting Goods Park.