Behrend Men's Soccer Remains On Top AMCC; Lions Defeat Pitt-Greensburg

Courtsey of John Leisering

ERIE, Pa.  The Penn State Behrend men's soccer team posted its seventh successive shutout - and remained in a tie for first place in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) - with a 4-0 win over visiting Pitt-Greensburg Saturday on Senior Day. The Lions improved to 11-2-4 overall and 5-0-1 in the AMCC while Pitt Greensburg dropped to 8-4-4 and 4-1-1 respectively. The setback snapped a three-game winning streak for the Bobcats.

Behrend dodged an early Bobcats' scoring threat when senior GK Sam York (Akron, OH/Revere) (10-2-4) was forced to make a sliding stop just outside the box five minutes into the contest. The Lions then got on the board at  20:36 when junior Andrew Cassano headed in a ball courtesy of a corner kick from sophomore Blake Cooper. The goal was Cassano's first of the season and represented the 16th Lion to have tallied at least one goal this year. The strike was the lone tally in the first half, one dominated by Behrend. The Lions took 11 shots (four on goal) to none for Pitt-Greensburg. Corner kicks favored Behrend 4-2.

Senior Justin Hockenberger (Spencerport, NY/Spencerport) doubled the Behrend lead at 54:47, taking a shot from a corner kick. Hockenberger's seventh goal - and fifth in the last two games - was helped by senior Justin LeDonne (Murrysville, PA/Franklin Regional) and freshman Jac Caputo (Pittsburgh, PA/Montour). Sophomore Johnathan Swann (Allison Park, PA/North Allegheny) one-touched a ball across the middle of the box at 71:04 to make it 3-0. Swann's second goal of the season was helped by senior Zak Schwarzel (South Park, PA/South Park).  Junior John Ziobro's (Westtown, NY/Minisink Valley) sixth of the campaign at 84:02 finished the scoring. Ziobro tucked one in the top of the net after a pass from freshman Mason Le (Canonsburg, PA/Canon McMillan).

Behrend totaled 20 shots, nine on goal, in the 90 minutes while Pitt-Greensburg recorded three and one. Corner kicks favored the Lions, 7-3.

Noteworthy:

* Behrend hasn't allowed a goal now in seven+ games or 671 minutes and 17 seconds
* The Lions have outscored their last seven opponents 30-0
* The Lions and the Mounties remained tied at the top of the AMCC with 5-0-1 records
* Behrend honored seniors Sean Abraham (Oakmont, PA/Riverview) and Nick Laskey (Charleroi, PA/Charleroi) before the game.
* The Lions will conclude the regular season Tuesday afternoon at Pitt Bradford
* The AMCC "Game-of-the-Week" was played on a picturesque day in Erie with the temperature approaching 70 degrees.