Eight Lions Selected To AMCC Men’s Soccer All-Conference Team

ERIE, Pa. – Eight Penn State Behrend men's soccer student-athletes earned a spot on the 2024 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Men's Soccer All-Conference Team.

First Team selections were Blake Cooper (Murrysville, PA/Franklin Regional) and Andrew Cassano (Bethel Park, PA/Bethel Park).

In seven conference starts, Cassano led the Lions defense to six shutouts, five of which were victories.  On the backline, he helped hold conference opponents to only two goals on 45 shots. He also scored the game-winning goal at La Roche. For the season, Cassano has started 16 games, ranking tied for first in the AMCC with two game-winners for four points. He recorded a game winner at non-conference opponent Houghton. In the AMCC Championship game, Cassano delivered the deciding penalty kick score to give Behrend a 5-4 shootout win. This marks the fourth All-Conference honors of Cassano's career as he is a two-time First Team selection and last season was picked to the second.

Cooper started all eight games at forward for the Lions, finishing tied for sixth in conference play with four goals and 10 points to go along with two assists. He scored a hat trick and the game winner against Pitt-Bradford, while registering assists vs. Penn State Altoona and Carlow. Starting all 20 games this season, Cooper led the team and tied for third in the AMCC in goals (10), while finishing fifth in the conference rankings in points (22). He tallied goals in six different contests, scoring a team-high two goals in a 3-0 win for Behrend against non-conference opponent Waynesburg. Cooper scored a second-half goal in the AMCC Semifinals against Mount Aloysius to force overtime and helped lead the team to an eventual victory. This is the third year in a row that Cooper has been named to the All-Conference First Team.

Owen Petersen (Erie, PA/McDowell), Reilly Nickles (Pittsburgh, PA/Moon Area), and Anthony Scalise (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) garnered All-AMCC Second Team honors.

Petersen started in six of seven conference games played, notching three goals for six points with the game-winner in a 1-0 win over Pitt-Greensburg. In 18 games played, he stood tied for first on the team and in the conference with two game-winners and is second on the team with five scores for 11 points. Petersen notched the game-winning goal against MCLA in the season-opener.

Nickles started all eight conference games in the midfield in his first season as a member of Behrend, assisting on the game-winning goal vs. Pitt-Greensburg and scoring his first collegiate goal against Hilbert. Starting all 20 games this season, he recorded two assists and one goal for four points and was second on the team with 33 shots taken. He had an assist in a 2-1 win over non-conference opponent Houghton.

In seven AMCC starts in net, Scalise led the conference with six shutouts and ranked second in goals-against average (0.29), save-percentage (.895), wins (five) and was fourth in minutes played (630). He ended the regular season with four straight shutouts, three of which were victories. In his first collegiate season, Scalise has made 13 starts, finishing first in the AMCC in shutouts (seven) and second in save percentage (.793) and goals-against average (0.90) to go along with a team-high 46 saves. He most recently recorded a shutout in the conference title game, making a key save in penalty kicks to secure the win at Alfred State.

Johnathan Swann (Allison Park, PA/North Allegheny), John Ziobro (Westtown, NY/Minisink Valley), and Brock Kiefer (Eighty-Four, PA/Canon McMillan) notched spots on the All-Conference Third Team.

Swann started all eight games for the Lions, recording one goal and three assists in AMCC play. For the season, he started 20 games, tallying three goals on 20 shots and three assists for nine points. Swann registered the game-winning goal in the conference semifinals, sending a bicycle kick in the back of the net with five minutes remaining in overtime. This is his third All-Conference honors in his career, most recently being named to the Second Team the past two seasons.

Ziobro started all eight conference games in the midfield, scoring in four different contests which included game winners against Carlow and Hilbert in back-to-back games. In 20 games played, he stands tied for third on the team with four goals on 19 shots for eight points. In 2022, Ziobro earned a spot on the All-AMCC First Team

In seven conference starts, Kiefer helped the Lions defense to six shutouts, five of which were victories.  On the backline, he helped hold conference opponents to only two goals on 45 shots. He scored his lone goal of the season against Hilbert and dished out an assist on the game-winning goal at La Roche. For the season, Kiefer has made 19 starts and accumulated one goal and three assists for five points, delivering helpers vs. non-conference opponents MCLA and Waynesburg. Last season, Kiefer was a Third Team selection.