CRESSON, Pa. – For the second consecutive season, the Mount Aloysius men's soccer team is headed to the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Championship. The top-seeded Mounties erupted for four unanswered second-half goals to defeat fifth-seeded Pitt-Bradford, 6-2, in the AMCC Semifinals on Wednesday evening at Kelly Field.

With the victory, Mount Aloysius improves to 9-5-4 overall and advances to the conference championship for the second straight year under head coach Matt Davis. Now in his second season back at the helm of the program, Davis has guided the Mounties to back-to-back championship appearances, putting his squad one victory away from capturing the conference crown.

Playing in front of a huge crowd at Kelly Field, the Mounties wasted little time making their presence felt. Just 2:25 into the contest, Gonzalo Terricabris (Catalonia, Spain, Garbi Pere Verges) opened the scoring with his 12th goal of the season, finishing a feed from Declan Berry (Taunton, England, Pyrland School) to give Mount Aloysius an early 1-0 advantage.

However, the Panthers (8-10-0) responded quickly, as Daniel Hartman found the back of the net in the 11th minute to even the contest at 1-1. The Mounties refused to let the equalizer shift the momentum, answering in the 23rd minute when Rasmus Andersson (Orebro, Sweden, Virginska Gymnasiet) scored off an assist from Zack Marshfield (Stroud, England, Stroud High Sixth Form) to regain the lead, 2-1.

Mount Aloysius carried that one-goal advantage into halftime, but Pitt-Bradford once again battled back in the second half. Andy Mangold scored in the 58th minute to level the contest at 2-2, setting the stage for what appeared to be a tightly contested finish.

Instead, the Mounties took complete control.

Just over two minutes after Bradford's equalizer, Berry delivered the biggest goal of his collegiate career. The Mountie defender scored his first career goal in the 60th minute, finishing a pass from Marshfield to put Mount Aloysius back in front, 3-2. The goal would ultimately stand as the game-winner, giving the Mounties a lead they would never relinquish.

From that point forward, the Mount Aloysius offense was relentless.

In the 63rd minute, Alex Fomin (Leander, Tex., Cedar Park) added some insurance with his first goal of the season, converting an assist from Martin Donner (Stockholm, Sweden, Danderyds Gymnasium Studievagl) to extend the advantage to 4-2. Just six minutes later, Donner got in on the scoring himself, finding the back of the net in the 69th minute off Berry's second assist of the evening to push the lead to three.

The Mounties weren't finished yet. Andersson put the finishing touches on the dominant second-half performance in the 79th minute, scoring his second goal of the contest off a feed from Axel Qvarnstroem (Uppsala, Sweden, Katedralskolan) to complete the 6-2 victory.

After seeing their lead erased twice, the Mounties responded by scoring four goals in a span of less than 20 minutes, turning a 2-2 battle into a commanding four-goal victory. Mount Aloysius outshot Pitt-Bradford 14-1 in the second half alone, controlling possession and generating scoring opportunities throughout the final 45 minutes.

Andersson led the offensive attack with two goals, while Berry delivered a career performance with his first collegiate goal and two assists. Marshfield also played a key role in the victory, recording two assists, including the helper on Berry's game-winning strike. Terricabris, Fomin, and Donner each added a goal, with Donner also contributing an assist.

As a team, Mount Aloysius held a commanding 20-5 advantage in shots, including a 9-4 edge in shots on goal. Goalkeeper Sam Denchfield played all 90 minutes between the posts, making two saves to earn the victory.

The six-goal performance continued an impressive offensive stretch for the Mounties, who have now scored 11 goals over their last two matches after closing the regular season with a 5-0 victory over Penn State Altoona.

Looking Ahead

With the semifinal victory, the Mounties will now turn their attention to the AMCC Championship, where they will host third-seeded Penn State Behrend on Saturday, November 7, at 2:00 p.m. at Kelly Field. As the conference's No. 1 seed and regular-season champion, Mount Aloysius will have the opportunity to compete for the title on its home turf.

The Lions advanced to the championship after defeating second-seeded La Roche, 2-0, in Wednesday's other semifinal matchup, eliminating the defending conference champions and ensuring that a new AMCC champion will be crowned this season.

Saturday's championship will also feature a rematch of one of the Mounties' most competitive conference contests of the regular season. Mount Aloysius and Penn State Behrend battled to a scoreless 0-0 draw on October 21 at Kelly Field, with neither side able to break through defensively. This time around, however, a champion must be decided, whether in regulation, overtime, or penalty kicks.

For Davis and the Mounties, Saturday represents an opportunity to finish what they started a season ago. After falling to La Roche in last year's AMCC Championship, Mount Aloysius returns to the title match with home-field advantage and another chance to bring the conference championship back to Cresson.

With back-to-back championship appearances under Davis, an undefeated conference record, and an offense firing on all cylinders, the Mounties will look to complete their championship journey in front of their home crowd on Saturday afternoon.

#GoMounties