After earning a 1-1 draw against then-No.15 Ohio State, the AU men’s soccer team took their first loss of the season Aug. 29 when they faced another nationally ranked Big Ten squad.
The Eagles (0-1-1) fell 2-0 to the Pennsylvania State University Nittany Lions (2-0-0), who enter this week by replacing the Buckeyes at No. 15 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Poll.
“Penn State is a very good team,” Head Coach Todd West told AU Athletics. “I am happy with how my team competed tonight.”
The Nittany Lions broke a scoreless tie in the 71st minute, when Julian Cardona scored off a feed from Matt Smallwood. AU had three corner kicks and three shots in the game’s final minutes, but could not push across a goal.
The Eagles went all offense in the game’s final minute, even sending goalie Matt Makowski to the offensive zone. Penn State would capitalize on the empty net, as Hasani Sinclair scored with one second left on the clock. Despite AU’s aggressive late play, Penn State goalkeeper Andrew Wolverton was able to record his second straight clean sheet of the season.
The Nittany Lions dominated all game long, outshooting AU 16-8. They also received seven corner kicks to AU’s five. Junior Alassane Kane led the Eagles with three shots, while Mark Wysocki recorded two off the bench.
Even though the Eagles were not victorious, juniors Adem Gokturk and Seth Goldman were named to the Penn State Classic All-Tournament Team. Gokturk was the Eagles’ prime contributor on defense, totaling over 200 minutes of game time over the weekend. Goldman scored the team’s game-winning goal in Saturday’s victory over the Buckeyes, while also being named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week.
The Eagles will now head to the D.C. College Cup, which will be held at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. AU opens the tournament Thursday, Sept. 1 against George Washington University, before taking on the Patriots Saturday, Sept. 3.
AU has won the title in five of the ten years the tournament has been contested. The last time the Eagles won the cup was in 2009, when they defeated then-No. 19 George Mason 2-1.
blasky@theeagleonline.com
