Page 12
The Behrend Beacon
Men's soccer
AMCC championship,
advance to first NCAAs
Senior Andy Laver scores the only goal of the AMCC Championship game between Behrend and Frostburg, giving the Lions a 1-0
victory. This is the Lions' first AMCC Championship win since 1999.
by Ray Immekus
staff writer
The men's soccer team won its third AMCC
championship in the last seven years on Saturday.
The Lions defeated the Frostburg State Bobcats
1-0 at Edinboro University to capture their first
title since 1999.
Senior midfielder Andy Laver scored the only
goal of the game, unassisted, to provide Behrend
with all the offense it would need.
Frostburg managed only two shots on goal in
the game against the stifling Behrend defense.
The Lions came into the game as the top ranked
defense in the AMCC, with a .82 goals against av
erage. Senior goalkeeper Jake Hordych recorded
his ninth shutout of the season.
As a result of their win on Saturday, the men's
soccer team earned its first ever NCAA tourna
ment bid. The Lions received a first round bye
and will face Messiah College on Friday at either
11 a.m. or 1 p.m. in Salisbury, Md.
Messiah is the defending National Champion
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and comes into the game with a 17-2-2 record.
"The team thinks they can beat these guys. Any
thing can happen on any given day," said assistant
coach Eric Kunzinger.
"Of course they are the defending national cham
pions and one of the best teams in the country, but
we're a good team, too. I think if we play it the right
way and we're in the game toward the end, we'll have
a good chance."
The Lions boast a 14-4-2 record entering the tour
nament, with a 5-1 conference mark. Behrend's 14th
win of the season last Saturday established a new
record for total victories in a season for the men's
soccer program.
Head coach Dan Perritano was named Coach of
the Year in the AMCC conference this week after
leading the Lions to arguably their best season ever.
He holds a career record of 116-87-14 in 11 years at
Behrend.
"Recruiting is the biggest thing a program can do,
and that's something he does probably better than
anyone," said Kunzinger. "He has goals for every
day that we try to achieve to make sure the team is
SP . -
Friday, November 14, 2003
team wins
focused. We get the most out of practice everyday.
I think those are his strong points as a coach."
Laver was given the Player of the Year award in
the AMCC on Saturday. He scored 10 goals and 6
assists this season, including two goals in the
AMCC tournament. Laver was also named to first
team All Conference. This is the second straight
year he has received this honor.
Six other Lions were given various honors on
Saturday. Sophomore defenseman Dan Bash and
Hordych, along with Laver were all named to First
Team All Conference.
Sophomore midfielder Mark Cipriani, sopho
more defenseman Brian Blaszczyk, and freshman
forward/midfielder Stan Kaweesi-Kantongole were
all given Second Team All Conference honors.
Sophomore midfielder Justin Reese was given
an Honorable Mention award in the Conference.
"We have 26 guys that come to practice every
day and play and compete every day and push each
other to get better. We have 26 guys that bust ev
ery practice," said Kunzinger.
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Athlete
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Week
Dan Bash
Sport: Men's Soccer
Class: Sophomore
Date: Nov. 11, 2003
ban Bash was named this weeks
Beacon/Food and Housing Ath-
lete of the Week
This past weekend against
Frostburg, Bash lead a defense
that allowed only two shots on
goal during Behrend's 1-0 win in
the AMCC championship match.
During the regular season, Bash
led the team to a 14-4-2 record,
and to the team's first ever
NCAA tournament appearance
Bash also was named an AMCC
all-conference first-team de-
fender