Men's Soccer Scores First, But Lose At Penn, 2-1
Oct. 9, 2007
PHILADELPHIA -- As the weather turned, so did the American University men's soccer team's fortunes Tuesday night at Penn. American scored the first goal of the game, but Penn got a break late in the first period and scored the only goal of the second half in a 2-1 Quaker win.
The Eagles' Cameron Petty converted a wide shot by Colin Zizzi in the 17th minute into a goal to open the scoring. Zizzi found a loose ball in the box, but had his back to the net, forcing him to turn and fire wildly. His shot was headed wide left, but Petty raced in from the top of the box to slam home the first goal of his career. Eight different players have scored for the Eagles this season, seven of which have been first career goals.
It looked as if AU would head into the lockerroom with a 1-0 lead as time began winding down in the opening period. However, on the Quakers' last offensive push of the half, they got the ball in the box, where one Penn shot was blocked and another was saved by Chris Sedlak from in close. However, the rebound went to the Quakers' Loukas Tasigianis, who chipped it over and into the net.
As the weather progressively got worse in the second half, playing conditions worsened, presenting a challenge to the Eagles' possession-style play. The Quakers took advantage with a long-ball style to the tune of an 8-2 shot advantage. In the 70th minute, Derek Hobson took a pass from Omid Shokoufanden in the box and scored to give the Quakers their first lead.
American put together several quality chances from the 77th minute on, including three corner kicks and several more long balls into the box, but the Eagles were stymied by the Penn defense.
The win for Penn was its third in a row.
The Eagles return to conference play on Saturday, when they travel to Navy for a 7 p.m. start.
