ERIE, Pa. – Jimmy Belack (Upper St. Clair, PA/Upper St. Clair) scored two goals and Eric Vunovic (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) talled three assists to lead the Penn State Behrend men's soccer team past La Roche 3-0 in Wednesday's Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) semifinal match at Behrend Field.
This is the fifteenth time in the past seventeen years in which the Lions (15-4-1, 8-1 AMCC) have advanced to the AMCC championship game.
Belack opened the scoring at the 13 minute mark by plucking the ball out of mid-air and firing it into the back left corner of the net.
He would make it 2-nil just 6:37 later.
After taking a pass from Vunovic, Belack was able to beat Redhawks goalkeeper Zach Schindehette and slide the ball into the right side of the net.
Less than two minutes later, Vunovic used a dazzling display of moves to turn the corner and center the ball. There he found Anthony Crivelli (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) who scored to make it 3-0. It was Crivelli's team-leading 10th goal of the season.
Earlier this season, Vunovic became the first player in Behrend history to eclipse 20 goals and 20 assists in a career. His three assists on Wednesday give him six on the season, to go along with nine goals. Vunovic now leads the Lions with 24 points.
Jarrod Wassell (Hollidaysburg, PA/Hollidaysburg) turned away La Roche repeatedly throughout the afternoon, earning his seventh shutout of the season.
With the win, Behrend improves to 20-11 all-time in the AMCC Tournament.
The Lions will seek their sixth AMCC championship on Saturday against the winner of Mt. Aloysius and Medaille.