For the Behrend soccer teams, this past weekend was a memorable one. It was AMCC Championship weekend for both teams, and both teams entered the tournament as the number one seed in their conferences, which guaranteed home field for the semi-final and final rounds. Fortunately, the men and women were able to win their respective conference championships. The ladies ultimately extended their AMCC Championship streak to eight, while the men were able to avenge last season’s loss to Medaille in the final round. The road to the titles did not come easy though, as the teams faced off against tough opponents in the semi-finals.

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The AMCC Championship Tournament started off this past Wednesday with the women’s team first taking on the Penn State Altoona Lions. It was largely a one-sided battle, with Behrend controlling the ball for most of the game. Behrend struck first when Payton Porter netted one just past the Altoona goalie less than 15 minutes into the game. The score remained 1-0 before Brenna McGuire struck for two goals late in the second half to seal the 3-0 win. Altoona only mustered one shot on goal and had virtually no good scoring chances as Behrend cruised on to the final round.

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The men followed the women with a stellar performance of their own against the Franciscan Barons. The game started out with the teams exchanging scoring chances, but no goals were scored until Logan Brinsky struck for Behrend in the 12th minute. About 13 minutes later, after some more back and forth action, Ryan Maurer notched one past the Baron keeper to make it 2-0 going into the half. From that point on, solid defense and goaltending propelled Behrend to more scoring opportunities, which they did capitalize on. Brinsky, Maurer and Dakota Lange added three more goals for Behrend in the second half. Despite Chris Ralph giving up two goals, one of which came in the final seconds, all was over but the bus ride for the Barons and the Lions went on to the finals.

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The AMCC finals took place this past Saturday, and once again featured the women in the first matchup at the Behrend Fields. The women’s team played, arguably, their toughest opponent of the season in Mt. Aloysius. This game featured a lot of neutral zone play in the first half with sporadic scoring chances, hence a scoreless tie at the half. This game only featured four total shots on goal and one goal, which fortunately came off the foot of Brenna McGuire late in the second half. Madi Jones was able to stop the two shots that came her way and Behrend captured the shutout victory and their eighth straight AMCC Championship.

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The men’s finals featured a nip-and-tuck matchup between the Medaille Mavericks and Behrend Lions. Most of the first half went much like the women’s game, scoreless and not a lot of good scoring chances. Just short of the 34 minute mark though, Ryan Maurer nailed a free kick from about 30 yards out off the post and past the Medaille keeper. The Mavericks quickly responded though, as Joel Rodwell snuck one past Ralph under a minute before the half. The game was chippy throughout, as expected between these two teams. The officials knew it too, as play was stopped several times for the officials to talk to the players and coaches or deal out cards, two of which came early in the first half. No matter how much they struggled through, the Mavericks could not overcome the Behrend offensive attack. Richard Blanchard and Dakota Lange netted two clutch rockets late in the second half off of dishes from Sean Abraham and Austin Harris. Ralph and the rest of his defense stood tall in the second half, and Behrend eventually avenged last year’s championship loss, taking the AMCC Title and its automatic bid into the NCAA DIII Tournament.

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The men’s game has not been confirmed yet, the the women’s team will take on Tufts this Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in Geneva, New York in their first round matchup.