LA ROCHE, PENN ST. ALTOONA ADVANCE TO MEN'S SOCCER SEMIFINALS

In the first round of the AMCC men's soccer championship tournament, #3 La Roche College defeated #6 Hilbert College, 3-2, while #4 Penn St. Altoona defeated #5 Medaille College, 2-0. La Roche and Penn St. Altoona will advance to the tournament semifinals, which will be played on Wednesday, November 4 at the higher seed.

The Penn State Altoona men's soccer recorded its first postseason victory since 2012 when they defeated Medaille on Saturday afternoon. The Lions caught a break at 60:24, when Medaille put the ball in its own net on a backwards kick inside the box. Lion freshman F Jordan Crist added a big insurance goal at 68:05, controlling a deflected ball inside the box and firing it into the bottom right corner of the net for his team-leading seventh goal of the season. Penn St. Altoona sophomore GK Jonathan Fuydal made seven saves in goal to post his ninth win and fifth shutout of the season. 

La Roche was able to overcome a 2-0 halftime deficit to defeat Hilbert and advance to the semifinal round of the tournament. Both of Hilbert's first half goals came off the foot of sophomore M Travis Hicks. Hicks scored on feeds from junior F Matt Barth in the thirteenth and twentieth minutes. The Redhawks defense tightened up in the second half which gave them a chance to find the equalizer. It came twelve minutes into the second when sophomore F Tyler Grebur drew a foul in the box and senior M Tyler Balzer converted the PK. The game-winner came when Redhawk sophomore F Pedro Ansede took a terrific pass from Aaron Lagnese and buried it left of the goalie to earn the one goal victory.

Penn St. Altoona will travel to #1 Mt. Aloysius for a 2:00 p.m. kickoff on Wednesday, while La Roche will play at #2 Penn St. Behrend with a 1:30 p.m. start time. The championship game will take place on Saturday, November 7 at the highest remaining seed.