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Sept. 8, 2002

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The #1 ranked University of Virginia men’s soccer team suffered its first loss of the season by dropping a 4-2 decision to the Penn State Nittany Lions in the 2002 Maryland/FILA Classic at Ludwig Field on the campus of the University of Maryland. The Cavaliers’ Alecko Eskandarian (Montvale, N.J./Bergen Catholic) scored two goals for UVa, but it wasn’t enough as Penn State held on for the two-goal victory over Virginia.

The Nittany Lions scored the first goal of the game at the 18:31 mark to take a 1-0 lead when Gabe Bernstein sent a cross to teammate Chad Severs that resulted in a goal. With 2:34 remaining (43:26) in the first period, UVa tied the score at 1-1 when Sean Feeney (Manasquan, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) connected with Eskandarian with a cross that resulted in Eskandarian’s sixth goal of the season. However, Penn State answered UVa’s score with a goal of its own less that a minute later (44:23) when Trevor Gorman gathered a throw-in from teammate Kenji Treschuk and scored a goal to give PSU a 2-1 lead. The Nittany Lions took their one-goal lead into the locker room at halftime.

Penn State extended its lead to 3-1 in the second half at the 72:15 mark when Mike Lindemann found Pasi Karpinnen with a feed that resulted in the eventual game-winning goal. Virginia pulled within one goal just over two minutes later at 74:17 when Eskandarian scored his second goal of the match (seventh of the year) after converting a penalty kick to make it a 3-2 contest, but Penn State scored an insurance goal at the 83:39 mark when Karpinnen sent a pass to teammate Joe Zewe who scored on a breakaway to make the score 4-2.

UVa goalkeeper David Comfort (Richmond, Va./Monacan) made two saves in a losing effort, while PSU’s Ryan Sickman tallied four saves in the victory.

The Cavaliers’ Matt Oliver (Waldorf, Md./DeMatha Catholic) and Jonathan Cole (Annapolis, Md./McDonogh) were named to the Maryland/FILA Classic All-Tournament Team.

With the loss, Virginia’s record falls to 3-1-0 overall, while the win improves Penn State’s record to 2-2-0 on the season. UVa is now 2-1-0 all-time against PSU in men’s soccer.

The Cavaliers will return to action on Saturday, September 14th when Virginia travels to Winston-Salem, N.C. to face the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in UVa’s Atlantic Coast Conference opening match. The contest is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. and will be played at Spry Soccer Stadium.

Scoring				1	2	FVirginia		(3-1-0)		1	1	2Penn State	(2-2-0)		2	2	4
Goals: UVa 2 - Eskandarian (Feeney) @ 43:26, Eskandarian (penalty kick) @ 74:17.PSU 4 - Severs (Bernstein) @ 18:31, Gorman (Treschuk) @ 44:23, Karpinnen (Lindemann)@ 72:15, Zewe (Karpinnen) @ 83:39.Shots: UVa 16, PSU 13.Corner Kicks: UVa 6, PSU 5.Saves: PSU 4, UVa 2.Fouls: PSU 27, UVa 22.Cautions: UVa 4 - Gibbs (Yellow Card), Eskandarian (Yellow Card), LeBlanc (Yellow Card),Eskandarian (Second Yellow Card = Ejection).PSU 2 - Treschuk (Yellow Card), Jacquette (Yellow Card).Attendance: N/A

— UVa —

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