The men’s and women’s soccer teams competed in the AMCC Playoffs this past week, with each of the teams making it to the final game of the tournament. The men’s team unfortunately lost in penalty kicks after two overtimes to Medaille. However, the women’s team was able to pull out a slim one-goal victory over the Franciscan Barons and win their seventh straight AMCC Championship and an automatic bid into the NCAA D-III Tournament.

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On Wednesday, the Behrend men’s team was able to dominate the Franciscan Barons, obtaining a three-goal win. Just over 12 minutes into the game Aaron Harris was able to split the defense and score the first goal of the game for the Lions. The Lions dominated the first half offensively and played shutdown defense, outshooting the Baron 6-0. The Lions were able to extend their lead in the second half to 4-0 after goals from Matt Dziadosz, Dakota Lang, and Cole Ferguson. The Lions capitalized on a multitude of chances in the second half, scoring on all three of their shot attempts. Chris Ralph was his usual self, stopping 4 of 5 shots on goal and almost clinching another shutout.

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This past Saturday, however, was a rather disappointing one after an exhilarating game. Behrend again controlled the ball throughout most of the first half, but were unable to score any goals through a tight-knit Medaille defense. With about 10 minutes left in the first half, Given Holy Gbode was able to slide a goal past the outstretched hand of Chris Ralph, who was caught out of position. Behrend kept the pressure on in the second half, forcing a penalty kick just about a minute in. Matt Dziadosz was able to bury the kick in the bottom right corner of the net past the Medialle goalie, Callum Christie. The further the game went on, the more physical it got, with each side committing a multitude of fouls and Medialle’s Christie going down with an injury twice, but still staying in the game. Behrend nearly pulled this game out in regulation as they had a tremendous opportunity to end the game, only to have a shot from right outside the box go right off the crossbar and head the ball wide shortly thereafter. Medaille was able to claim the victory in penalty kicks after a couple of stagnant overtime periods. Callum Christie was actually the man to nail the final penalty kick to give the Medaille Mavericks the AMCC Championship and a bid into the NCAA Tournament.

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The Behrend women’s team was able to capture victories in the semi-final and final games in the AMCC Tournament, starting with a close win against the D’Youville Spartans in penalty kicks. The entire game went scoreless through regulation and two overtimes, despite Behrend dominating on offense in registering 49 shots and D’Youville only registering six. Megan Dulniak, the D’Youville goalie, was able to make 28 saves, nine of which came off the foot of Laura Schaefer, and keep her team in the game throughout. Behrend finally was able to assert their dominance in penalty kicks, winning said penalty kicks by a score of 4-2. Laura Schaefer, Ashlyn Whipple, Olivia Belack, and Caroline Mashyna netted PKs for Behrend while goalie Ania Gorski stopped the final three kicks to seal a trip to the AMCC Finals.

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On Saturday, the Lions were able to capture their seventh straight AMCC Championship against the Franciscan Barons in a slim 3-2 victory. The teams exchanged goals early in the first, with Jordan Oberlander scoring for Behrend and Megan Luiso scoring for Franciscan.