UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State men's soccer freshman forward Jeremy Rafanello made his debut in full fashion, scoring his first collegiate goal in the ninth minute. The Nittany Lions battled UCF for full regulation plus two overtimes, but ultimately fell, 2-1 in the home opener Friday night at Jeffrey Field.
"Overall, I'm tremendously proud of the players and their effort they gave tonight," said head coach Jeff Cook. "It was a really hard game against a talented team. I'm gutted for them, because I thought they put so much into the game and I thought at least deserved a draw out of it. Despite the fact that Central Florida had quality players and some good moments in the game, we did just as well. Tough way to end the game in overtime, especially when that doesn't go your way. Overall, I just have to give the players just an incredible amount of credit for the effort they put in the game tonight."
The Nittany Lions (0-1-0) came on to the pitch running under first-year head coach Jeff Cook, taking three straight corner kicks within the first three minutes to maintain possession early. Rafanello had a good look in the sixth minute that went just wide before finding the back of the net off the pass from Callum Pritchatt in the ninth minute for his first career goal.
The remainder of the first half was a back-and-forth battle between the Nittany Lions and UCF (1-0-0) as redshirt sophomore goalkeeper made two saves off UCF scoring attempts before the Knights were able to sneak through and score in the final seconds of the first half to head in to the locker room tied, 1-1.
While being outshot 24-10, the Nittany Lions were able to maintain a strong defensive unit in front of Levine throughout the game, helping him to eight total saves.
Rafanello had another good look at scoring near the end of regulation via a Penn State corner kick by Pritchatt, but was blocked away by the Knights' defense.
The Knights were able to pull away in the 102nd minute, scoring off a corner kick in double overtime to win.
Up next the Nittany Lions return to Jeffrey Field to take on Bowling Green on Tuesday, Aug. 28 at 7 p.m. Admission at Jeffrey Field is free for all regular season games.