Philadelphia, Pa. – In a tightly contested match that began with 71 scoreless minutes, No. 12 American University men's soccer came through with a 2-1 victory in a thrilling ending at Penn. After two traded scores, sophomore Jake Garcia scored the game winner in 88th minute for a 2-1 victory over the Quakers.

The Eagles improve to 6-1-0 with the win against a game Penn team. The Quakers actually outshot AU, 16-12, but American played well down the stretch for its fifth-straight win.

"Penn is an excellent team so we are very happy to get the win," said head coach Todd West. "This game could have gone either way, but credit to the team and Dale Ludwig and Jake Garcia for finding the game winner."

It was indeed the sophomore duo of Ludwig and Garcia on the all-important score as they played a cross in low from the right side that Garcia was able to put away for this first  score of the season.

In a physical bout that registered 23 fouls, but no cards, defense reigned in the first 70 minutes.

American got the scoring going shortly after however as Mark Plaisance also scored his first goal of the year, going low on the left post from 18 yards out.

Penn, which played against its second-straight ranked opponent, was able to tie the game up only four minutes later as Alec Neumann scored his third of the season off a well placed drop pass.

The Eagles were able to control late however, especially in the final two minutes with Penn needing the equalizer. AU held the Quakers without a shot in the closing minutes.

Senior goalkeeper Dylan Hobert made four saves in the match to earn his sixth victory of the year.

American will rest up and return to Reeves Field next week, taking on Hartford on Tuesday, September 23 at 3 p.m.