Offense Sparks Lions to Victory

ERIE, Pa. - The Penn State Behrend men's soccer team scored four goals in the first 18 minutes of action en route to a 6-3 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) victory over Franciscan on Saturday.

The Lions (5-6-1, 3-1 AMCC) came out fast scoring five first half goals by five different players to build a 5-2 halftime lead.

Kyle McKinney (Chesterland, OH/West Geauga) scored his first goal of the season to put Behrend on the board first.  Just over four minutes later Peter Brower (Rochester, NY/McQuaid Jesuit) netted his first goal of the season to push the lead to 2-0. Jimmy Belack (Upper St. Clair, PA/Upper St. Clair) crossed the ball from the left to Brower who used a one touch shot to beat the goalie.  The quick strike offense tallied another goal three minutes later by Eric Vunovic (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) off a direct kick.  At the 17:23 mark, Sean Polosky (Upper St. Clair, PA/Upper St. Clair) crossed the ball to Belack who fired a shot past the goalkeeper to give the Lions a commanding 4-0 lead.

With Behrend up 4-0, the Barons had an answer.  Jesse Saltarelli and Blake Bonilla added goals to cut the lead in half.  The Lions were able to get the momentum back though.  At the 32:27 mark, Chris Pembridge (Bemus Point, NY/Maple Grove) took a shot and tallied his first goal of the season.  Philip Broadus (Pittsburgh, PA/Allderdice) set up Pembridge to earn the assist.

As the second half was underway, Franciscan again cut into the lead with a goal at the 59:25 mark.  The game remained at 5-3 for the next 23 minutes.  With under eight minutes remaining, Brower took aim from 20 yards out to record his second goal of the game and extend the lead to 6-3.  The Behrend defense held strong to preserve their third conference victory of the season.

The Lions will be back in action on Tuesday as they travel to Pitt-Bradford. Game time is 1 p.m.