ERIE, Pa. - Sean Polosky (Upper St. Clair, PA/Upper St. Clair) netted his second goal of the game just under two minutes into the overtime to give Behrend a thrilling 5-4 come back victory over La Roche on Saturday.
The Lions (3-4-1, 1-0 AMCC) needed two goals in the final three minutes of regulation to force overtime in their Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) opener.
The Redhawks (6-3, 0-1 AMCC) got on the board first with Adam Minnaugh scoring at the 14:48 mark. Behrend had a quick answer with Jimmy Belack (Upper St. Clair, PA/Upper St. Clair) beating the goalie to tie the score at 1-all less than a minute later. Jack Leslie (Mars, PA/Mars) was able to find Belack in a crowded box to earn the assist. The Lions offense went quite while La Roche was able to score two more times to take a 3-1 halftime lead.
With the second half underway, Behrend came out strong. Eric Vunovic (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) led a long pass to Jake Gamble (Butler, PA/Butler) who found the back of the net to cut the lead in half. The Redhawks came back with a goal of their own to regain control and increase the lead to 4-2.
As the second half continued, La Roche used a strong defensive effort to clear most of the Lions' opportunities. With time winding down, Polosky chipped in a goal from 10 yards out to cut the lead to 3-2. Now, with less than a minute reamaining and down by one goal, Behrend was able to get the ball into the offensive end for one last shot. Polosky took aim off of a Belack throw in. The shot hooked in and hit off of Gamble who was able to deflect in the tying goal. Regulation would end in the 4-all tie forcing the Lions to play their fourth overtime game of the season.
With all of the momentum after scoring two unanswered goals, Behrend came out fast. Belack fed Polosky who was able to beat the goalie for his fifth point of the game barely one mintue into the overtime period. The win gave the Lions their 12th straight regular season AMCC victory.
Behrend will continue AMCC play as they travel to Medaille on Tuesday. Game time is 6:30 p.m.
