Franklin Regional grad Mastovich wraps up decorated soccer career at PS Behrend

Andrew Mastovich did plenty of winning during his Penn State Behrend soccer career, and the awards keep coming his way for his contributions to that success.

Mastovich, a 2016 Franklin Regional grad, was named the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Defensive Player of the Year and selected to the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III All-Star First Team this season as the Lions (19-2) made their second consecutive NCAA Tournament.

The center back was at the heart of a defense that recorded 10 shutouts and allowed 18 goals in 21 games in 2019, and, for his career, Mastovich’s teams accumulated a 68-13-6 record as he was named second-team All-AMCC as a sophomore and first-team All-AMCC his last two years.

Despite his season ending with a disappointing first-round NCAA loss to No. 9 Kenyon — the geographically focused setup of the D-III bracket resulted in the 20th-ranked Lions getting a difficult early draw — Mastovich came away with plenty of reasons to be happy.

“I joked around with coach a little bit before the season and said we could be undefeated this year,” Mastovich said. “We made the Sweet 16 last year and thought we could do it again, but we ran into a very good team in the first round. We expected to go farther than the first round, but I think everyone was still happy with the outcome of the season.”

Mastovich said the strength of their defense was playing organized and compact, a focal point for coach Dan Perritano from the start of preseason.

It helps to have talented players to execute the coach’s tactics, of course, and Mastovich grew into a commanding role as one of the captains.

“Andy was a guy who played well in big games for us. His teammates looked up to him, and he progressed as his career went on,” Perritano said. “He had a lot of good players around him, and Andy did a lot of things for us. He was really steady and really consistent.”

Proving he did more than marshal the back line, Mastovich finished his career with nine goals, three in each of his final three seasons. His knack for shining in big games popped up again this season when he headed in the overtime winner in a 2-1 upset of No. 14 Mount Union.

All of that success came despite Mastovich not being 100% during the season. The senior battled on-and-off minor ankle issues for much of his career, and this season, he also played through a pinched nerve in his neck.

“I hurt my neck in the Mount Union game, and I got treatment. It was pretty much healed, but I hurt it again in the Franciscan game,” Mastovich said. “I wasn’t even going to play in the Medaille game (the Lions’ lone regular-season loss), but it was a big game and I wanted to play. It kind of bothered me all year, but I just sucked it up. We were on a good track, and after a loss, I didn’t want us to lose our focus.”

A multi-sport athlete playing basketball and running track at Franklin Regional, it wasn’t until the end of high school that soccer truly became a focus for Mastovich. For Perritano, that turned out to be a good thing, as he was able to recruit a future three-year starter late in the process.

“He wasn’t really on our radar until he started playing for Beadling his senior year. We went down, saw him play in February, saw him again in a practice session in March. … He had a good physical presence, was a good athlete, and we knew he’d project well,” Perritano said. “Typically, when guys don’t play a lot of club soccer and have some ability, there’s tremendous upside.”

Said Mastovich: “If I were to go back, I’d have started cup (soccer) or something competitive like that a lot sooner. Just playing against that competition and playing in the offseason got me a lot more confident in what I can do.”

As it turned out, Mastovich ended up on quite the successful path, on and off the field.

With his soccer career ended, he has one semester remaining after the holidays before graduating with a dual major in finance and accounting. His next goal is to work part-time while continuing school toward a master’s in business administration.