Behrend Gets Past Lady Lions 3-0

Behrend Gets Past Lady Lions 3-0

ERIE, Pa. – No. 5 seed Penn State Altoona women's soccer was eliminated from the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Tournament on Wednesday evening, when the Lady Lions suffered a 3-0 loss to No. 1 seed Penn State Behrend in the conference semifinals.

Despite inclement weather conditions that consisted of fog, rain, and wind, Penn State Altoona (9-8-2) hung in for much of the game against the top seed in the conference tournament on the road. But Behrend (12-6) scored two late second half goals to break the game open, turning a one-goal lead into three.

Riley Barrett (Sunbury, PA/Shikellamy) had an excellent performance between the pipes to keep Penn State Altoona in the game for most of the evening. The freshman goalkeeper made a season-high 17 saves, tying for the fourth-most saves in a single game in Lady Lions soccer history.

Behrend got two goals from the AMCC's leading goal-scorer, Brenna McGuire, along with one goal from Payton Porter.

Porter scored an unassisted goal early in the first half, putting the home team up 1-0 at the 12:57 mark.

But Penn State Altoona kept Behrend off the scoreboard for the remainder of the first period, despite a strong and steady attack by the home team. Barrett made 11 of her 17 saves during the first half to help keep it a one-goal game.

The Lady Lions continued to hang around until the latter stages of the second half, when McGuire broke through for a pair of goals to open things up. McGuire's score at 69:45, assisted by Emily Indof, made it 2-0. At 75:57, she struck again on an unassisted tally to increase Behrend's advantage to 3-0.

Sydney Emershaw (Dallas, PA/Dallas) had Penn State Altoona's lone shot on goal. Kierra Irwin (Altoona, PA/Altoona) had a team-high two shot attempts, while Sadie McConnell (New Enterprise, PA/Northern Bedford) and Jenna Mickel (Murrysville, PA/Franklin Regional) finished with one shot each.

While Penn State Altoona is knocked out of AMCC Tournament competition, the Lady Lions' postseason is not necessarily over. The team has a chance to qualify for the Eastern College Athletic Conference's Division III Championship Tournament, with berths awarded by that league next week after the completion of conference championships around Division III women's soccer this weekend.