On Monday, November 10, the ECAC announced the Men's Soccer Southern Region Tournament pairings. Penn State Behrend (13-7-1) will be making its third appearance (2000, 2005) in the tournament and will host Wilkes University (10-7-3) on Wednesday, November 12, at 12 noon at Gannon University's Field. Behrend is the fourth seed and Wilkes is the fifth seed.
"It is a positive reward for our team's body of work this season," said head coach Dan Perritano, who is in his sixteenth season guiding the soccer program at Behrend. Behrend has played strong soccer down the stretch recording an 8-2-1 mark over the past 11 games.
After claiming the 2007 AMCC Men's Soccer Championship trophy, the Behrend Lions fell in this year's AMCC finals to the Medaille Mavericks (13-5-2). The teams played through crazy weather conditions that ranged from clear skies to driving hail and they ended the first half in a scoreless tie, however Medaille founds its rhythm scoring three times in the second session and earned the league's automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA Tournament.
The Behrend attack is lead by senior forward Ahmad Salim (Cranberry/Seneca Valley). He has 12 goals and two assists for a total of 26 points on the year, while sophomores Ryan Banks (Allison Park/Hampton) and Josh Tetti (Mckeesport/Elizabeth Forward) had chipped in eleven and ten points respectively.
Dustin Walker (Apollo/Kiski) has been top notch between the pipes for the blue and while. Walker has made 81 saves, posts a 1.09 GAA, and has anchored the defense with nine shutouts.
Wilkes enters the ECAC Tournament with a 10-7-3 overall record and a second-place regular season finish in the Freedom Conference. The Colonels season came to a close with a gut-wrenching 1-1 (5-4 penalty kicks) loss to top-seeded Misericordia in the championship game of the Freedom Conference Tournament.
Wilkes is led by junior forward Greg Miller who has collected nine goals and three assists in 2008. In goal TJ Baloga has made 66 saves to go with a 1.09 GAA.
The 2008 ECAC Tournament seeds are King's College (1), AMCC member Frostburg State (2), Catholic University (3), Penn State Behrend, Wilkes, Wesley (6), Washington & Jefferson (7), and Widener (8). The Behrend/Wilkes winner will advance to play the winner of the Kings versus Widener Game on Saturday. Sunday's championship game time is yet to be announced.
