ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend women's soccer team captured the 2014 Herb Lauffer Memorial Soccer Tournament with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Baldwin Wallace on Sunday afternoon.
Alex Bilka (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) scored two goals, both at crucial points in the match, netting the first and the game winner to help the Lions (2-0) begin the season with a pair of wins and the tournament title. For her efforts, Bilka took home MVP honors.
Kelly Gough and Aly Lehky each tallied a goal for the Yellow Jackets (0-2), while Emily Tallmadge had three stops.
Behrend tallied two goals on its first two shots of the game. Shelby Lloyd (Beaver, PA/Beaver Area) sent a through ball to Bilka, who took a great move to get around a Yellow Jacket defender and drive in the first goal at the 18:30 mark.
Baldwin Wallace responded four minutes later with a header goal from Gough off a corner kick by Courtney Schultz to even it at 1-all. The back-and-forth scoring continued thanks to Allyson Lonas (Johnstown, PA/Conemaugh Township) on a direct-kick goal that curved past Tallmadge and the wall for a 2-1 lead in the 25th minute.
The Yellow Jackets got the equalizer in the 32nd minute for the final goal of the first half. Chelsey Turk found Aly Lehky from the endline and her one-touch shot from the top of the box ended in the back of the net.
With the second half winding down, the Lions were awarded a penalty kick after Bilka was taken down in the box on consecutive trips in the box. The sophomore, taking her second penalty kick in as many days, scored the game winner at the 70:43 mark.
Goalie Taylor Troyan (Butler, PA/Butler) held Baldwin Wallace scoreless for the final 20 minutes and made a big save on a shot by Schultz with 2:01 left to play to preserve the win. Troyan finished with three saves on the day.
Behrend returns to action on Wednesday against Houghton. Game time is 5 p.m.
