The Penn State Behrend women's soccer team defeated Pitt-Greensburg 3-0 on penalty kicks to claim the AMCC Championship on Saturday afternoon at the Penn State Behrend Soccer Complex.
The Behrend Lions captured their 16th AMCC Title in true championship style. After a scoreless 110 minutes, each team sent five players out to take penalty kicks to decide the game. Despite having a quiet 90 minutes of play, Morningstar stopped the final two penalty kicks against the Bobcats to secure the win. Mia Zec, Trinity Prestash, and Audra Kuzma were successful by sending their PK's to the right side of the goal and past the Bobcat goalkeeper.
After the first Pitt-Greensburg penalty kick hit the post, Morningstar made a diving right-handed save that sent the ball over the crossbar on the second PK and then stopped the third Bobcat shot to the same side for the dramatic finish.
Behrend held a 27-6 advantage in shots. The Lions controlled the ball the majority of the game and had their best scoring opportunities in the second half. Morningstar came away with a big save off a Pitt-Greensburg shot from a corner kick with 5:30 left to play in regulation. Minutes later, Behrend's Rachel Sickeri came down and fired a shot to the low left, only to be stopped by John to keep it tied.
With the win, Behrend earns the conference's bid to the NCAA tournament and will compete next weekend. The NCAA selection show is Monday at 1:30 p.m.
All-Tournament Team
La Roche: Grace Motuk, Kylie Nemcek
Hilbert: Eliana Rocha, Kait Sobczak
Penn St. Altoona: Mallorie Smith, Rachel Rutkowski
Mount Aloysius: Maggie Cason, Jasmine Hinton
Pitt-Greensburg: Paige John, Megan Hickey, Maya Wertelet
Penn St. Behrend: Riley Morningstar, Kristi Buckenheimer, Rachel Sickeri