Gameday Central
Bucknell	0
American	3
Goals: Herman 2 (AU), S. Kuykendall (AU) Assists: McDonald (AU), Philipakos (AU), S. Kuykendall (AU), Herman (AU), Koniver (AU) Saves: Behonick (AU) 3, Edwards (BU) 6

WASHINGTON - Andrew Herman scored two goals and added an assist as the No. 13 American University men's soccer team tied the second-best start ever in school history with a 3-0 win over Patriot League rival Bucknell. AU moves to 10-2-0 (3-0-0 Patriot League) on the season, matching the start of the 1990 Eagle squad.

"The whole team stepped up today," head coach Todd West said after the match. "Bucknell gave us their best game and we were still able to come away with a win."

American had a number of chances in the first five minutes of the match. In the third minute, Herman crossed the ball to Shawn Kuykendall, but his shot went off of the crossbar. Just two minutes later, Michael Grinsfelder made a pass to Kris Bertsch who fed Herman, but Herman's header was just over the net.

AU finally broke through in the 16th minute as Larry McDonald sent a long ball ahead to Herman. Herman was able to outrun the Bucknell defender and score in the lower right corner of the net to give the Eagles a 1-0 advantage.

American was unlucky three minutes later as a Kuykendall corner kick was headed on by McDonald to Grinsfelder, but Grinsfelder's header hit the left post of the goal. Bucknell (8-2-1, 1-2-0) had its first chance of the match in the 33rd minute as a long ball was sent to Brian Johnson, but his shot went over the net. Three minutes later, Eric Brunton was streaking in alone for the Bison, but David Pryor was able to beat him to the ball and clear it out of danger.

The Eagles had more chances early in the second half. In the 52nd minute, Herman fired a shot off of Bucknell goalkeeper Adam Edwards' hands. Grinsfelder collected the rebound and shot, but Edwards was able to punch the ball over the goal.

Bucknell's best opportunity of the match came in the 58th minute as Scott Visnic took a shot from outside the box that American keeper Michael Behonick saved while diving to the right. Ori Adrabi gathered the rebound for Bucknell, but Behonick was able to save his shot as well.

Herman's second goal of the match came in the 59th minute as Kuykendall sent a long ball to Peter Philipakos. Philipakos drew the keeper out of the cage and passed the ball to Herman who buried the ball in the open net for his seventh goal of the season.

American closed the scoring in the 66th minute. After a long posession for the Eagles, Charlie Koniver passed the ball to Herman who fed Kuykendall. Kuykendall took the pass in the air and scored in the right corner of the net to give AU a 3-0 lead.

Once the Eagles had the lead, the squad kept posession of the ball for the majority of the time in the rest of the match. Three of American's eight corner kicks came in the last 2:30 of the match as the Eagles kept the ball in the Bucknell end of the field. AU outshot the Bison 22-7 for the match and only allowed three shots on goal, all of which were saved by Behonick.

American's back four were strong in posting its second consecutive shutout and sixth of the season. Koniver, McDonald, Pryor, Sean Albright, and Jeff Kinney did an excellent job of controlling the play and shutting down the Bucknell attack all match.

"Our back four were fantastic today," West said. "Our posession really helped us to win this game."

American returns to action on Wednesday as the Eagles travel to Princeton for a 7:30 p.m. match.

Goals: AU - Herman (2), S. Kuykendall
Assists: AU - McDonald, Philipakos, S. Kuykendall, Herman, Koniver
Saves: AU - Behonick 3; BU - Edwards 6
Shots: AU - 22; BU - 7
Corners: AU - 8; BU - 3
Offsides: AU - 5; BU - 3