COLLEGE PARK, Md. – After tying the game in the 84th minute, the Penn State men's soccer team (5-8-2, 2-3-2 Big Ten) dropped a heartbreaker in double overtime to Maryland (7-5-3, 4-3-0 Big Ten), 3-2, Tuesday evening at Ludwig Field.
"Tonight was an outstanding college soccer game," said head coach Jeff Cook. "I'm really proud of the way our team battled back from a two-goal deficit and showed such character to take control of the game for large parts of the second half. Based on the quality of our team's performance tonight I thought we deserved a better result than what we got, but we have to give credit to Maryland for their attacking quality. We look forward to the final regular season game on Sunday at Jeffrey Field and hope to finish the season on a positive note."
The Terps offense pressed early, with redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Josh Levine making his first save in the seventh minute off a Maryland free kick.
Maryland took the early lead, going up 1-0 in the 27th minute and then adding another goal in the 44th minute to make it 2-0.
But then literally seconds before the break, junior Aaron Molloy brought the Nittany Lions within one after a corner kick made its way outside the box and to Molloy's right foot. The Dublin, Ireland, native struck it from about 25 yards out right to the left corner of the goal, stunning the Maryland defense.
Aaron Molloy gets @PennStateMSOC on the board with this #BTNStandout goal right before halftime. pic.twitter.com/icgi1V5ly3
— Penn State On BTN (@PennStateOnBTN) October 23, 2018
The Nittany Lions were able to slow down the Terps pressure in the second half, with Levine saving all four of Maryland's shots on net.
In the 84th minute, redshirt senior Noah Pilato volleyed the ball off a Maryland defender and put it away in the back of the net to tie the game at two goals each and eventually bring the game to overtime.
The goal marks Pilato's first career goal.
After fighting for the golden goal in the first 10 minutes of overtime, the game would find itself in the second overtime with the Terps eventually netting the game-winner in the 107th minute.
Levine finished the match with seven saves.
Up next the Nittany Lions return to Happy Valley for the final hurrah of the regular season. Penn State will host Rutgers on Sunday, Oct. 28 with kickoff slated for a 4 p.m. start.