Gameday Central
Ohio State	1
American	2
Goals: Herman (AU), S. Kuykendall (AU), Nugent (OSU) Assists: S. Kuykendall (AU), Herman (AU) Saves: Behonick (AU) 4; Brown (OSU) 1, Wimmert (OSU) 0

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - American University's men's soccer team withstood an attempted rally by an aggressive Ohio State team to win the first match of the Penn State/Nike Classic, 2-1. American improves to 4-1 on the year while Ohio State loses its third straight match to fall to 2-3.

Ohio State had the first opportunity of the match as Justin Cook fired a shot on goal in the first minute of play that Michael Behonick dove to his left to save. The match quickly turned very physical as five fouls were called in the first 15 minutes and Sean Albright was given a yellow card.

American struck first in the match as Shawn Kuykendall sent a floater ahead to Andrew Herman. Herman gathered the ball and Ohio State keeper Chad Brown went to the ground. Herman then sent the ball into the net for his fourth goal of the year as Kuykendall earned his fourth assist of the young season.

Physical play continued throughout the first half as the teams combined for 17 fouls. Two more yellow cards were issued in the first half to AU's Herman and Ohio State's Eric Schwebach.

The sophomore duo of Herman and Kuykendall combined for the Eagles' second goal with just over one minute remaining in the half. This time, Herman sent a floater ahead to Shawn Kuykendall who fired the goal into the right corner of the net for his first goal of the season.

American had to weather a furious Buckeye attack in the second half in order to secure the win. Ohio State outshot the Eagles 7-3 in the second stanza and had numerous opportunities in the box where an Ohio State player could not convert on the shot.

Ohio State finally converted in the 80th minute as Andy Rosenband fired a shot in that was blocked by an AU defender. Kevin Nugent retreived the ball and put it past Behonick into the net.

The Buckeyes kept the pressure up on the AU through the last ten minutes of the half. Herman had another opportunity in the 87th minute as David Marut crossed the ball to the sophomore forward, but his shot went high over the empty net. American was able to fight off the final Buckeye charges and claim the win.

The AU defense had yet another solid match as Charlie Koniver and Larry McDonald played well in the middle backfield while Robert Rezek and David Pryor also had strong games. Behonick made four saves in goal for the victory.

AU returns to action on Sunday as the Eagles face the host Nittany Lions at 3:00 p.m. Check back on AUEagles.com as AU fans will be able to listen to a live radio feed of the match. The link will be posted on Sunday.