PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The third-seeded Thiel Tomcats defeated the second-seeded Chatham Cougars 23-18 Wednesday night in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship Tournament semifinal game at UPMC Graham Field to secure a spot in the tournament title game against the top-seeded Washington & Jefferson Presidents on Saturday.
 
The Presidents earned their spot in the championship game by defeating the fourth-seeded Franciscan Lady Barons Wednesday, 17-12. Saturday's title game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at Alexandre Stadium.
 
Tied 8-8 at halftime, the Cougars took a 2-goal lead less than a minute into the second half. The Tomcats secured the win by scoring five straight goals twice during the remainder of the second half.
 
Destiny Johnson (Baltimore, Md./Western) started the first 5-goal streak at the 21:29 mark. Mackenzie Quinn (Carnegie, Pa./Chartiers Valley) scored back-to-back markers 33 seconds apart. Ashlyn Wightman (Glenshaw, Pa./Shaler) scored at 17:47 and Johnson scored at 15:46 to give the Tomcats a 16-13 lead.
 
Chatham cut the lead back down to a single goal (16-15) when Bria Braddock scored with 14:40 to go in regulation before Thiel went on its second 5-goal streak. Johnson scored the first and fifth goals during the stretch at 14:29 and 8:11, respectively, to give the Tomcats a commanding 21-15 lead.
 
Johnson led Thiel with nine points on six goals and three assists. Quinn, who tallied her 200^th career goal in the contest, recorded eight points (7G, 1A). Quinn is the second player in program history to reach the 200-goal plateau.
 
Also for Thiel, Ashlyn Wightman (Glenshaw, Pa./Shaler) registered six points (4G, 2A) while Maddy Wightman (Glenshaw, Pa./Shaler) scored three goals. Alex Geraci (Garrettsville, Ohio/Crestwood) scored a pair of goals to go along with a team-leading six draw controls.
 
Braddock paced Chatham with six points (5G, 1A). Anna Prendergast scored four goals while Rachel Belles recorded three points and a game-high 14 draw controls.
 
Madison Liggett (Baltimore, Md./Catholic) made 12 saves in the second half to earn the win for the Tomcats. Emily Ramous (Bridgeville, Pa./Chartiers Valley) made two saves in the first half. Aria Dietrich made 14 saves for the Cougars.
 
The Tomcats will be playing in their first conference tournament championship game on Saturday since 2015. Thiel appeared in three straight conference title games from 2013-15 and earned one championship (2013).