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Aug. 28, 2016
BERKELEY, Calif. - The Penn State men's soccer team fell 2-1 in an overtime match against UC Berkeley Sunday, Aug. 28. Playing their second overtime match in as many games, the Nittany Lions were unable to come away with victory as the Golden Bears found the golden goal early in the overtime period to secure the 2-1 win.
Senior Connor Maloney (Harrisburg, Pa.) was a bright spot in the Nittany Lion offense scoring his first goal of the 2016 season and 20th of his career donning the Blue and White. Senior Mason Klerks (Corona, Calif.) tallied two shots for Penn State, while freshman Pierre Reedy (Kutztown. Pa.) and senior Riley Grant (Copley, Ohio) had one apiece.
After being held scoreless in the season-opener against No. 1 Stanford, Penn State got the ball moving early against the Golden Bears. Sophomore Austin Maloney (Harrisburg, Pa.) crossed the ball to a breaking C. Maloney. Maloney was able to get his head on the ball on the cross from his brother and find the lower right side of the net to give Penn State the early 1-0 lead over UC Berkeley.
Cal looked to knot the score late in the first half, finding multiple shots in the closing minutes. However, the Golden Bears were unable to find the net allowing Penn State to take a 1-0 lead into the locker room.
The Nittany Lions were outshot 10-3 in the opening half but UC Berkeley could not touch the net having zero shots on goal in the opening half of play.
Following a goal kick, Cal went on the attack in the second half as Ugo Rebecchini made a short pass to Nick Lima. From 25-yards out and defense scrambling in front of Finney, Lima drove the ball into the lower right corner of the net to knot the score at 1-1 in the 52nd minutes of the match.
Cal continued to attack after the equalizer from Lima, getting two quick shots on the Nittany Lions, but Finney stayed strong in the goal saving both and keeping the score tied at 1-1.
Penn State tallied its third yellow card of the match in the 80th minute, which almost proved detrimental when Cal got a quick shot off inches from Finney that was blocked by the Nittany Lion defense.
Cal was given a red card minutes later and Penn State was forced to make a goalkeeper change, bringing into freshman Arie Ammann (Round Hill, Va.) with minutes left in regulation.
The Blue and White put last minute pressure on UC Berkeley looking for the golden goal but for the second time in as many matches, Penn State found itself tied at the end of regulation heading into sudden goal overtime with the Golden Bears.
Cal wasted no time into the overtime period as a goal kick up the field found Lima alone inside the box. Lima picked up the ball in the air on the right side of the field and headed it into the lower left corner past an outstretched Ammann to secure the 2-1 win over Penn State.
The Blue and White opens its 2016 home campaign Friday, Sept. 2 when JMU travels to Happy Valley for a 7 p.m. match at Jeffrey Field.