#2 Behrend Men’s Soccer Plays #1 Alfred State for AMCC Title

ALFRED, N.Y. – No. 2 Penn State Behrend travels to No. 1 Alfred State on Saturday, Nov. 9 to compete for the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Men's Soccer Championship. Game time is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Coverage:

Video | Live Stats

No. 2 Behrend News & Notes:

* The Lions earned a 2-1 overtime win over No. 3 Mount Aloysius on Wednesday in the AMCC Semifinals to advance to the title game
* The Mounties tallied the first score of the game in the 66^th minute to take a 1-0 lead
* Senior Blake Cooper (Murrysville, PA/Franklin Regional) knotted the score at one apiece with a score in the 83^rd minute to force extra time
* Fellow senior Johnathan Swann (Allison Park, PA/North Allegheny) delivered a bicycle kick for the game-winner and his third goal of the season which came with five minutes remaining in overtime
* Chris Profaca (Basking Ridge, NJ/Ridge) dished out assists on both of Behrend's scores on Wednesday
* Goalkeeper Anthony Scalise (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) registered his first collegiate playoff win in net, finishing with three saves vs. Mount Aloysius
* Cooper leads the team and is tied for third in the conference in goals (10) and fifth in points (22)
* Scalise has recorded 41 saves in 12 starts this season, sitting tied for first in the AMCC in shutouts (six) and second in save percentage (.774) and goals-against average (1.00)
* The Lions are in search of their 11^th overall conference championship and first since 2019
* The winner of the AMCC title will earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament

No. 1 Alfred State News & Notes:

* Alfred State finished the regular season with a 12-3-2 overall record and 6-0-2 conference record to notch the top seed in the tournament and be named Co-Regular Season Champions along with Behrend
* The Pioneers took down No. 5 Pitt-Greensburg, 3-0, in the semifinals on Wednesday
* Jack Leahy scored the game-winner in the 68^th minute, while Alexander Romero and Nuri Sarbudak each netted scores against the Bobcats
* Freshman Travis Scandalis leads the team and is tied for fifth in the AMCC in goals (10) and third in points (24)
* Forward Nuri Sarbudak stands second on the team and sixth in the conference with 21 points, while being second on Pioneers in scores (nine)
* Farhan Abdi is second in the conference rankings with seven assists
* Alfred State has eight players this season with 10 or more points
* The Pioneers are looking for back-to-back AMCC titles after winning their first championship in penalty kicks last season against Mount Aloysius (4-3)

Series History:

* Behrend leads the all-time series 7-1-1, dating back to 2015
* The Lions and Pioneers played to a scoreless draw during the regular season
* Last season, Alfred State defeated Behrend in the AMCC Semifinals by a score of 2-1

AMCC Tournament Schedule:

First Round: Saturday, November 2
Game 1: #3 Mount Aloysius d. #6 Pitt-Bradford, 4-0
Game 2:  #5 Pitt-Greensburg d. #4 Hilbert, 1-0

Semifinals: Wednesday, November 6
Game 3: #1 Alfred State d. #5 Pitt-Greensburg, 3-0
Game 4: #2 Penn State Behrend d. #3 Mount Aloysius, 2-1 (OT)

Finals: Saturday, November 9 – 2 p.m.
Game 5: #2 Penn State Behrend at #1 Alfred State