No. 2 Behrend Men’s Soccer Trumps No. 1 Alfred State In Penalty Kicks To Win AMCC Title

ALFRED, N.Y. – The No. 2 Penn State Behrend men's soccer team was victorious 5-4 in penalty kicks over No. 1 Alfred State to earn the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Championship on Saturday afternoon.

Score: No. 2 Penn State Behrend 0, No. 1 Alfred State 0 (Behrend won 5-4 in PK's)
Records: No. 2 Penn State Behrend (10-6-4), No. 1 Alfred State (13-3-3)

Noteworthy:

* Seniors Andrew Cassano (Bethel Park, PA/Bethel Park), Blake Cooper (Murrysville, PA/Franklin Regional), and Johnathan Swann (Allison Park, PA/North Allegheny) were selected to the AMCC All-Tournament Team
* After three seasons as an assistant coach, first-year head coach Chris Ralph led Behrend to its first conference title in five years

Key Moments:

* The Lions captured their 11^th AMCC Championship and first since 2019
* After a scoreless 90 minutes and two 10 minute overtime periods, Behrend and Alfred State remained deadlocked at zero
* Each team sent out five players for the penalty shootout to decide Saturday's contest
* The Pioneers found the back of the net from their first four players to take penalty kicks with scores coming from Chuck Domm, Jack Leahy, Jackson Powers, and Nuri Sarbudak
* The Lions also capitalized on their first four attempts with scores by John Ziobro (Westtown, NY/Minisink Valley), Reilly Nickles (Pittsburgh, PA/Moon Area), Blake Cooper (Murrysville, PA/Franklin Regional), and Jac Caputo (Pittsburgh, PA/Montour)
* On Alfred State's fifth shootout attempt, Behrend's freshman goalkeeper Anthony Scalise (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) made a diving save to his left on the shot by freshman Travis Scandalis
* This stop by Scalise set the stage for Cassano
* Cassano sent a shot to the lower left of the net that beat Pioneers goalkeeper Brayden Fox to secure the penalty kick victory and the championship for the Lions
* Along with his pivotal save in the shootout, Scalise finished with five saves for his seventh shutout of the season
* Sophomore Owen Petersen (Erie, PA/McDowell) led Behrend with two shots on goals, while Sarbudak tallied a game-high three shots with two of them being on goal for Alfred State

Up Next:

* The Lions have earned the AMCC automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament next weekend. The NCAA selection show is this Monday at 1:30 p.m.