No. 25 Behrend Advances To AMCC Championship Game With Win Over La Roche

ERIE, Pa - Senior forward Anthony Crivelli (Cranberry Twp, PA/Seneca Valley) scored two goals to help No. 25 Behrend defeat La Roche 3-2 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegaite Conference (AMCC) semifinals Wednesday afternoon.

The Lions (16-1-3) entered Wednesday's matchup looking to earn a spot in the AMCC finals for the 18th time in the last 20 years. The Redhawks (11-7-2) looked to avenge their loss to Behrend last year in hopes of advancing to the finals to try and capture their first championship in program history. 

The two teams battled through a scoreless 31 minutes until Crivelli broke the game open at the 31:42 mark. After a shot toward the Lions net was deflected away, Crivelli scooped up the loose ball and dribbled down the field where he scored a breakaway goal over La Roche goalkeeper Austin Gorman.

The second half remained quiet until Dakota Lange (Apollo, PA/Kiski Area) delivered a long cross from the right side to Sean Gallagher (Bethel Park, PA/Bethel Park )in the 74th minute. The senior midfiender knocked the pass to his feet and found the top right corner to make the score 2-0.

At the 81:18 mark, Redhawks leading scorer, Ximo Vincent, was fouled in the box and converted his penalty kick to narrow the score 2-1. That was the first penalty kick for La Roche this season. 

Behrend countered with a goal of their own just 12 seconds later. Crivelli beat a Redhawks defender on the right side and netted his second goal of the game and eighth of the season, making the score 3-1. With that goal, Crivelli now sits second in Behrend history career points with 109.

La Roche added one more goal at the 89:35 mark, but still fell short in the semifinals to the Lions for the second straight year.

Behrend will look to capture their eighth AMCC title this Saturday. They will host second seed Medaille on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.