PITTSBURGH, Pa. – In its last game of the 2018 regular season, the Penn State Altoona women's soccer team suffered a 2-1 loss to Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent La Roche College at the Baierl Athletic Complex on Tuesday afternoon.

With the loss, Penn State Altoona (8-7-2, 4-4-1 AMCC) will have to travel for its AMCC Tournament first round game this Saturday, October 27. The Lady Lions will enter the AMCC playoffs as the fifth seed in the tournament, hitting the road to take on fourth seed Pitt-Greensburg. The start time for that game has not yet been announced.

Kierra Irwin (Altoona, PA/Altoona) scored Penn State Altoona's lone goal on Tuesday, with Sam Jones (Clifford Township, PA/Mountain View) picking up an assist. Riley Barrett (Sunbury, PA/Shikellamy) made seven saves in goal for the Lady Lions.

La Roche (4-12, 2-7) used two goals from Alondra Gonzalez in the game's first 7:21 to stake out an early lead.

Gonzalez struck for her first goal of the day just 1:48 into the first half. Kerri Phillis sent a pass across the goal line, and Gonzalez tipped the ball in to put the Lady Redhawks up 1-0.

Gonzalez netted her second goal at the 7:21 mark following a quick setup from Marissa Johnson and Jessica Nakamura.

Penn State Altoona got on the board in the latter stages of the first half, courtesy of Irwin's fifth goal of the season. Jones sent a well-placed cross from the right side of the field into the box, where Irwin headed it past the keeper at 34:04 to cut La Roche's lead to 2-1.

After being outshot 13-3 in the first half, Penn State Altoona held a 9-8 edge over La Roche in second half shots. But, despite several scoring opportunities, the Lady Lions were unable to come up with the game-tying goal.

La Roche finished the game with a 21-12 lead in shots attempted and a 9-7 advantage in shots on goal. The Lady Redhawks also held a slim 3-2 advantage in corner kicks.

Irwin led Penn State Altoona in total shots attempted with four, including two shots on goal. Sadie McConnell (New Enterprise, PA/Northern Bedford) had a team-high three shots on goal.

Now, the Penn State Altoona women's soccer team will prepare for its first AMCC Tournament berth since 2015. That postseason, the Lady Lions entered the playoffs as the sixth seed and knocked off third-seeded Pitt-Greensburg 2-1 before suffering a 5-0 loss at number two seed Penn State Behrend.