Two days after earning a 1-1 draw against No. 15 Ohio State, the American University men's soccer team played No. 18 Penn State even for 70 minutes. But the homestanding Nittany Lions struck for two late goals -- the latter on an empty net with one second remaining -- and came away with the 2-0 victory Monday evening to hand AU its first loss of the season.

"Penn State is a very good team," remarked Head Coach Todd West. "I am happy with how my team competed tonight."

Penn State (2-0-0) broke the scoreless match in the 71st minute when Julian Cardona received a pass from Matt Smallwood and found the back of the net. Facing the one-goal deficit, American (0-1-1) pressured the Nittany Lions over the final 20 minutes, earning three corner kicks and three shots, although the Eagles were unable to get anything past Penn State goalkeeper Andrew Wolverton.

With time winding down in the final minute, West sent his entire squad, including goalkeeper Matt Makowski, to the offensive end for one final push. Penn State, however, was able to clear the zone in the final seconds. Hasani Sinclair benefited from American's empty net and beat the game clock by one second to set the final margin at 2-0 in favor of Penn State.  

The Nittany Lions outshot American by a 16-8 margin and they held a 7-5 advantage in corner kicks. Junior Alassane Kane led the Eagles with three shots while senior Mark Wysocki came off the bench to record two shots.

Despite the loss, juniors Adem Gokturk and Seth Goldman were named to the Penn State Classic All-Tournament Team. Gokturk anchored American's defensive unit while logging all 200 total minutes in the two matches over the weekend. Goldman, meanwhile, scored AU's goal in Saturday's draw against Ohio State, which earned him Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week honors.

The Eagles will return to Washington to prepare for this weekend's D.C. College Cup, which will be played at George Mason in Fairfax, Va. AU will open the tournament on Thursday, September 1 against George Washington at 5:00 p.m. before facing host George Mason on Saturday, September 3 at 7:30 p.m.