Men's Soccer Takes on La Roche in AMCC Semifinals

ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's soccer team is set to host No. 3 seed La Roche in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) semifinals Wednesday afternoon.

The Lions (15-2-1, 8-1 AMCC) have won the last two AMCC Championships and three titles in the past four years. The Redhawks (11-8, 6-3 AMCC) are looking to avenge their 3-0 loss against Behrend earlier this season.

La Roche and the Lions will kick off at 1:30 p.m. on the Behrend turf to decide which team will advance to the AMCC championship match. The winner of this matchup will play the winner of No. 1 Mount Aloysius and No. 4 Penn State Altoona on Saturday.  

Behrend is looking to keep the AMCC trophy for the third consecutive year. Winning a third straight championship will tie them with Medaille for the longest-championship winning streak in AMCC history.

In the Lions 3-0 win over La Roche at home earlier this season, three different players scored in the second half to lift Behrend to victory. Nick Stewart (Pittsburgh, PA/Keystone Oaks), Anton Benedikt (Madison, NJ/Madison) and Evan Augustine (South Park, PA/South Park) all tallied goals.

Scoring is wide-spread for the Lions this season. Anthony Crivelli (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) leads all scorers with 24 points (9 goals, 6 assists). Stewart leads Behrend with 11 goals and is second on the team with 23 points. Christian Harrington (Warren, PA/Warren Area) and Matt Dziadosz (Leechburg, PA/Kiski Area) are third and fourth in goals (7, 6), assists (5, 3) and points (19, 15) respectively.

The Lions' defense is led by senior captain Mike Worthy (Pittsburgh, PA/Upper St. Clair) and junior captain Augustine. The two have helped Behrend post 10 team shutouts during the season, including a four-game shutout streak during the season where they only allowed 14 shots, only two of which were on target.