Lions Knock Off No. 25 Medaille to win AMCC Championship

BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Penn State Behrend men's soccer team defeated No. 25 Medaille, 1-0 to win the 2011 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Championship.  

Freshman midfielder Sean Polosky (Upper St. Clair, PA/Upper St. Clair) netted his second game winner of the season to give the Lions their first AMCC Championship since 2007, ending a three year reign by the Mavericks.

In a game where goals where hard to come by as they typically are in the series, one goal was enough to give Behrend the AMCC automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.  

The defenses dominated the game early on as the Lions and Medaille traded shots.  Both teams tallied five shots and two on goal in the first half but were denied by strong play by the goalies. Chris Bolea (Ambridge, PA/Ambridge) made two saves in net for Behrend while Nick Kurts also recorded two for the Mavericks.  The game would remain scoreless as the first half ended.

As the second half was underway, Medaille seemed to grab the early momentum.  They fired multiple shots on goal, only to be turned away by Bolea.  

It wasn't until the 82:34 mark that the Lions got a spark on offense.  Junior Danny Poljak (Pittsburgh, PA/Upper St. Clair) made a long throw in where Polosky was able to fire a shot from 30 yards out to give Behrend the lead for good.  The defense cleared the final attempts to secure the victory.

Depsite being out shot 9-1 in the second half and not having a single corner kick, the Lions made the most of their opportunity.  Bolea tallied four second half saves to finish with a game high six to get the win between the pipes.  

Behrend will now move onto the NCAA tournament with an opponent and site to be announced on Monday.