WOMEN'S SOCCER PREPARES FOR AMCC CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT

The AMCC Women's Soccer Championship Tournament kicks off this weekend as Penn State Behrend has clinched the #1 seed for the tournament championship. Penn State Behrend and Pitt-Greensburg finished the regular season as co-champions with identical 8-0-1 records, but the Lions won the tie-breaker based on goal differential to earn the No. 1 seed. First round games begin this Saturday when #3 Hilbert College hosts #6 Penn State Altoona and #5 La Roche University will travel to #4 Mount Aloysius College. #1 Penn State Behrend and #2 Pitt-Greensburg will each receive first round byes. 

Top-seeded Penn State Behrend will be looking to bring the AMCC title back to Erie after falling to Pitt-Greensburg in the championship game a season ago. The Lions completed the regular season with an 8-0-1 record and edged out the Bobcats for the No. 1 seed by virtue of the tiebreaker rules. The Lions enter the tournament with a balanced offensive attack, as junior F Trinity Prestash ranks second in the conference with 14 goals this season, with 12 of those coming against AMCC competition, while junior M Audra Kuzma added 10 tallies in conference play. Lion GK Riley Morningstar ranks second in the league with a 1.03 goals-against average and is third with a .786 save percentage.

Defending champion Pitt-Greensburg enters the tournament as the No. 2 seed. The Bobcats are led offensively by sophomore M/F Maya Wertelet who leads the league with 17 goals and 36 points, while Megan Hickey has added 10 goals. Junior GK Paige John tops the AMCC in goals against (5), goals-against average (0.83), and save percentage (.865). 

With a 5-3-1 record, Hilbert has earned the No. 3 seed. Senior F Grace Zabawa leads the Hawk offense with eight goals and seven assists for 23 points this season. Freshman GK Jordan Brown has made 64 saves this season. 

Finishing the regular season with a 5-4 conference record, Mount Aloysius enters as the No. 4 seed. Leading the Mountie attack is M Katie Figinski, whose 11 goals rank her fourth in the league and M Jordan Mason, whose 10 assists are tied for first in the AMCC. 

La Roche enters the tournament with a 4-3-2 record and the No. 5 seed. Senior M Alexis Nudds leads the Redhawks with seven goals while Alexandra Mecchia has added seven assists on the season. Sophomore GK Julianna Hornikel has recorded 60 saves on the season and has 1.69 goals-against average. 

No. 6 seed Penn State Altoona comes into the tournament with a 4-4-1 record. Senior F Mallorie Smith leads the Lion offense, and ranks third in the conference, with 13 goals on the season. GK Nicole Schwartz is tied for fourth in the conference with 61 saves and carries a .656 save percentage. 

First round games will be played on Saturday, October 28, with the top two seeds receiving byes. The semifinals will take place on Wednesday, November 1, with the championship game on Saturday, November 4.  The AMCC champion will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, with the national championship to be played at Kerr Stadium in Salem, VA Nov. 30-Dec. 2.

Please see the AMCC Fall Championship Page for more details.