Box Score
Alassane Kane tallied a pair of goals and an assist as the American University men's soccer team registered a 3-2 victory over George Washington in the D.C. College Cup Thursday afternoon in Fairfax, Va. With the triumph, Head Coach Todd West earned his 100th career win as the Eagles recorded their first win of the young season.
"Today was pretty special because guys have been talking about it [getting close to 100 wins]," West said following the match. "We finally got it behind us and it was a team effort. They're all difficult and each win is special in its own way."
American (1-1-1) struck first in the 35th minute when Kane took a pass from Patrick Mehlert and beat GW goalkeeper Brendan Lafferty on the left side. Jack Scott was credited with an assist on the play for his cross to Mehlert to give AU the lead.
The Eagles took that 1-0 advantage into halftime, although George Washington (0-1-0) leveled the match under a minute into the second half as Yoni Berhanu converted a penalty kick. The Colonials earned the opportunity after a handball on a loose ball scramble just inside the goalbox.
American regained the lead midway through the second half when
Tyler Collins received a pass from Kane and fired a low shot from 20 yards out that slid by Lafferty. For the sophomore, the score was his first-career tally and American had a 2-1 advantage.
AU continued to control the action over the next few minutes and capitalized on a fantastic passing sequence that resulted in Kane's second goal of the match, which stretched the margin to 3-1. The play began on a long ball from
Adem Gokturk to
Colin Seigfreid down the right side. Seigfried fed a cross along to a streaking Kane, who deposited a high shot into the back of the net.
The Colonials cut AU's lead in half in the 80th minute, but were unable to find the game-tying score as the Eagles held on for the 3-2 victory.
Kane's five-point effort marked his second-career multi-goal game. The first came in last year's D.C. College Cup against Howard and he now had nine career goals at American in just 21 matches. Kane led all players with six shots as the Eagles held a 17-13 advantage in the match.
West, in his 12th season as the head coach at American, improves his record to 100-91-25. The two-time Patriot League Coach of the Year has led the Eagles to three NCAA Tournament berths during his tenure, including a run to the Sweet 16 in 2001. Before being promoted to head coach, West served as an assistant coach for four seasons and was on the staff for AU's Elite 8 appearance in 1997.
American will seek its sixth D.C. College Cup title in 11 years on Saturday, September 3 when it faces tournament host George Mason. Match time from George Mason Stadium is slated for 7:30 p.m.
