ERIE — Not every team gets a second chance, so the Penn State-Behrend women's soccer team didn't waste the one it received.

After earning the top seed in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Tournament with a 9-0-1 regular-season mark, the Lions were upset by No. 4 seed Penn State-Altoona in the first round, 1-0.

The defeat cost Behrend a possible spot in the NCAA Division III playoffs.

But the 2009 season wasn't over for the squad.

Behrend, which includes Seneca Valley graduates Dana Cerminara and Caitlyn Elser, and Mars product Glennis Robash, received an invitation to compete in the Eastern College Athletic Conference postseason tournament, which began Nov. 11.

"It's kind of like the NIT in college basketball," Behrend coach Patrick O'Driscoll said. "A lot of the schools in this region belong to the ECAC, and we're one of them."

Behrend won two games at the invitational before falling 1-0 to Swarthmore College in the finals. It was the first time the Lions had advanced to the ECAC title game.

"The conference tournament loss to Altoona took the wind out of our sails for a bit, but I was happy how the team bounced back from that," O'Driscoll said.

Elser, a junior, and Robash, a sophomore, started for the Lions at center-midfield and forward, respectively, while Cerminara, a junior, was a key reserve as a midfielder.

Robash tied for the team lead with eight goals and notched a pair of assists, while Elser tallied two goals and two assists.

Cerminara contributed a goal.

"All of them are important players for us," O'Driscoll said. "They performed really well and they're all coming back next year."

Behrend finished the regular season with an overall record of 13-2-3 and outscored its conference foes 45-1, with LaRoche College scoring the lone goal against the Lions.

"As a team, everything worked really well this year, everything clicked," said Cerminara. "We all seemed to be on the same page."

The one conference game Behrend didn't win was a scoreless tie against Altoona Sept. 26.

The latter then brought its A game against the Lions in the AMCC tournament.

"Altoona, they were really pumped up to beat us," said Robash. "We just weren't connecting well that game.

"But the (third) time we played them, it was a different story."

Behrend first knocked Grove City College out of the ECAC event with a 2-1 win in the quarterfinals.

In the semifinals against Altoona, Behrend won 5-3 on penalty kicks.

"Altoona had one really good player, but we were the more balanced team," Robash said.

"Our opponents couldn't focus on one player," O'Driscoll added.

Though the team just turned in a very good season (15-4-3 overall), the Butler County trio are looking forward to next year.

Behrend will graduate only three players from this season's team.

"The strongest part of this team is the chemistry," said Elser. "That helps, because you want to play well for each other.

"We've got a lot going for us and we're only going to get better," she added.