Men's Soccer Win AMCC Title in Thrilling
Overtime Match
The
Penn State Behrend men's soccer team had an outstanding performance
in the 2007 AMCC Championship game, defeating the number-one seeded Medaille Mavericks 2-1 in overtime. This marked the first AMCC title for the men's team since 2003.
"This was a well deserved win for our team," said fifteen year coach
Dan Perritano. "We stayed focused all year and it paid off."
The first half of the game allowed little room for either team to error. Both sides only saw a few scoring opportunities but battled it out in the midfield.
The second half started out much the same as the
first, with both teams fighting hard to score the first goal.
It was not until the 74th minute, when a Mavericks forward took a
long shot on goal. Goalkeeper Dustin Walker (Apollo/Kiski
Area) tried all he could to stop the ball from finding net but was
unsuccessful as Medaille took the lead 1-0.
With only fifteen minutes left in the game, the blue and white
fought back. As the final minute of the game approached it
seemed that the men would be defeated. With only 30 seconds
left, Behrend was awarded a corner kick. All eleven players
packed into the penalty area for one last attempt. As Eric
Murillo (Pittsburgh/Montour) kicked a beautiful arching ball into
the box, defender Adam Cline (Jefferson Hills/Thomas Jefferson)
leaped over his defender and headed the ball into the back of the
net with only 20 seconds left in regulation.
As overtime began, the battling continued between
these two teams but only one would come out victorious. Only a
few minutes into the first overtime, Cline received the ball outside
the box and blasted one into the upper right corner, freezing the
Maverick's keeper.
"This championship was very timely with everything we worked for
this season," said Perritano.
The blue and white have now won four AMCC titles and have appeared in eight of the eleven AMCC Championship games. Earlier this season, the men lost a heartbreaking 1-0 to Medaille in regular season play. The men are now 13-4-3 overall and finished 7-2 in conference play.
The men will go on to play in the NCAA tournament next week. Game match-ups will be announced Monday afternoon. The men's last NCAA appearance was in 2003, when they lost to number one ranked Messiah in the regional semi-finals.
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