BRADFORD, Pa. – Senior Heather Klimuszka (Rochester, NY/Greece-Athena) scored a pair of goals to help the Penn State Behrend women's soccer team defeat Pitt-Bradford 2-1 in double overtime and advance to the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) championship game.
The third-seeded Lions (13-6-1) upset the No. 2 Panthers (13-3-2) to avenge a 1-0 regular-season loss to Pitt-Bradford on Oct. 11. With the win, Behrend will play the winner of the second semifinal between No. 1 Penn State Altoona and No. 5 Medaille at the highest remaining seed on Saturday.
The Lions showed in the 102 minutes of play they meant business, firing 23 shots to the Panthers four. Klimuszka took five of those shots and capitalized on two off corner kicks.
Pitt-Bradford got on the board first in the 32nd minute. Courtney Hodgins sent the ball into the box and Lindsay Sherman was able to gather the misplayed ball by Behrend and five the Panthers a 1-0 lead.
Being down a goal did not deter the Lions and exactly 10 minutes later, Lindsey Steinsdoerfer connected with Klimuszka on a right-side corner to even the score at 1-all. That would be the final goal scored in regulation although Behrend never stopped fighting to get the win.
Klimuszka pulled out the heroics she demonstrated in the first half with 1:58 gone in the second overtime, scoring on the only shot of the extra period off a scramble in front of the net for the golden goal to send the Lions to the AMCC championship game.
Alisa Cornell made 10 saves to keep Pitt-Bradford in the game and Robin Siegenthaler (Penns Valley, PA/Penns Valley) got the win for Behrend in between the pipes.
