Behrend Men's Soccer a Success at Midseason
Through nine of eighteen regular season games the Behrend Lions are sitting at 6-2-1. Things got off to a fast start at the annual Herb Lauffer Memorial Tournament with 1-0 victories over Hiram and Baldwin-Wallace. Junior defender Dan Bash (Pittsburgh/Thomas Jefferson) was named the Tournament MVP after helping the blue and white begin the season with two shutout performances. After claiming the tournament championship the team collected two road losses, but since it has gone 4-0-1.
Strong defense has been a key so far this season. Dan Bash leads the back four while sophomore Matt Zirnsak (Butler/Butler) has taken command in goal. Zirnsak has posted six shutouts and has a goals against average of 0.78. On the offensive side the team has had to press to score goals, with no single player taking control. Nine different players have scored goals with four others collecting at least one assist. "We should continue to have a very balanced attack, we have tremendous attacking depth," said head coach Dan Perritano.
Next the team travels to La Roche for the third of seven consecutive Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) games. In two conference games thus far the team has gathered a tie versus Penn State Altoona and an easy win over new conference foe Hilbert. In the coming weeks the team will try to secure the number one seed in the AMCC Tournament. Last season, after winning the regular season crown with a 5-1 record the team recorded two hard-fought home playoff wins to capture the AMCC Championship and an eventual second round bid into the NCAA Tournament.
This year repeating as AMCC Champions will be even more difficult. The addition of three teams to the conference has taken the number of conference games from six to nine. Now, however, the team that captures the conference title will automatically qualify for the NCAA Tournament. "The league presents a very challenging schedule, we need to compete everyday to improve," said Perritano.
The AMCC playoffs begin on October 30. From there the team will look to return to the NCAA tournament. Last year the team drew the defending National Champions Messiah. After a scoreless first half the Behrend Lions went on to lose 0-3, but gained valuable experience in the process.
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