Posted: Nov 12, 2016
CORTLAND, NY – Gavin Coutts scored with 3:50 remaining in the game and Scranton held on to the 2-1 lead, defeating Penn State Behrend in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Saturday evening.
Behrend (17-2-3) came into this evening's game holding the longest unbeaten streak in all of division III (18 games).
The Lions and Royals (15-3-1) exchanged possession in the midfield for the first 15 minutes before the first shots of the game were registered. Behrend had their first scoring chance when Anthony Crivelli (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) found space in the middle of the field and took a shot that went wide left.
At the 36:30 mark, Connor Casey got Scranton on the board making the score 1-0. Michael Bergen played a corner kick inside the box where Casey headed it to the right corner.
The Royals went into the half with a 4-3 margin in shots and a 1-0 lead.
The Lions came out attacking, but failed to push one past Scranton goalkeeper Eric Hintz until the 54:04 mark when Crivelli found the back of the net for his 12th goal of the season.
Nick McKee (Bridgeville, PA/South Fayette) played a long ball through the middle that Crivelli knocked to his feet. He then dribbled around a Scranton defender and chipped it to the back right corner.
At the 86:10 mark, Bergen picked up his second assist of the night off another corner kick. He played the ball to the right side of the box and Gavin Coutts flicked a shot off his back heal that squeezed just inside the right post.
For the next 3 minutes and 50 seconds, the Royals held on to their lead, knocking Behrend out of post-season play.
The Lions finished the season 17-2-3.
