No. 1 Penn State Behrend and No.3 Franciscan University both advance to the AMCC women's soccer championship game after claiming victories in the semifinal matches on Wednesday. Top-seeded Penn State Behrend edged No. 4 D'Youville College 4-2 in penalty kicks, while No. 3 Franciscan University defeated No. 2 Mt. Aloysius College . Behrend and the Franciscan will square off for the conference crown on Saturday at 4 p.m.
The Lions (14-4-1) and the Spartans (8-7-3) battled to a 0-all tie through regulation and two overtime periods to force penalty kicks to determine the second team vying for the AMCC title. Behrend took a season-high 49 shots during the 110 minutes played. Spartan goalkeeper Megan Dulniak made some big plays in goal for D'Youville, including back-to-back stops with less than 15 minutes left to play to keep the Lions off the scoreboard. The junior finished with 28 saves with eight coming in overtime.
Behrend started the penalty kicks with a goal from junior M Laura Schaefer and then sophomore F Marina Campbell evened the score at 1-all for the Spartans. Behrend senior M Olivia Belack and Spartan junior F Magan Magee also buried their shots to keep it tied. The next two players missed on the third attempt for both teams. Behrend senior D Caroline Mashyna hit the crossbar and the ball bounced into the goal for the Lions fourth kick and a 3-2 lead. Lion goalkeeper Ania Gorski made a save on D'Youville's next attempt, leaving Behrend with one more goal for the win. Behrend's Ashlyn Whipple netted her shot and the final penalty kick for the Lions to help them advance to the title game.
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Playing the in AMCC tournament semifinal match for the first time since 2013, the third-seeded Franciscan women's soccer team did something that no soccer team at FUS has done before and won its semifinal match to advance to the conference championship game. The Lady Barons defeated second-seeded Mt. Aloysius 4-1, Wednesday afternoon.
Mount Aloysius got on the board first when Skylar Taylor finished off a corner kick in the sixth minute to take a 1-0 lead. Following the goal, Franciscan junior GK Sarah Luebking made three-straight saves to keep the score close over the next 13 minutes. With 12:01 to play in the first half, senior Clare Kennedy sent a through ball through the box for Emily Wieszczek who slotted it home into the corner of the net to tie the game, 1-1. Wieszczek's third goal in two games sparked the Lady Baron offense as senior Megan Luiso buried the next shot for Franciscan low into the corner for the eventual game-winner as the Lady Barons took the lead, 2-1, with 11:15 to play in the half. Following the break, junior Elizabeth Dawyot made it a 3-1 game with her fourth goal of the year. Just under three minutes later, Luiso capped the scoring with her 10th goal of the season as she shot the ball into the far left corner of the net from the top of the 18-yard box. Luebking made four more saves in the final 18 minutes of action to keep the Mounties off the board in the second, including one with nine seconds remaining on the clock. In total, Luebking made 10 saves for her eighth win of the year for the Lady Barons.
The win sends the Lady Barons to the AMCC Championship game for the first time in program history where they will square off against top-seeded Penn St.-Behrend in Erie, Pa at 4:00 pm.