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Ninth Ranked Dons Tie Ohio State 1-1 and Win Penn State Classic
Sept. 10, 2006
The ninth ranked USF Dons won the championship of the Penn State Classic after a 1-1 tie with Ohio State Sunday afternoon in University Park, Penn. The Dons finished 1-0-1 in the event and had the best goal difference.
The Dons (4-0-1) opened the scoring when Aaron Chandler, the team's leading scorer the past two seasons, rifled a shot home from eight yards out past Buckeyes goalkeeper Casey Latcham. The play was set up when Jordan Keyes' long throw-in was headed to Chandler by tournament MVP Kevin Long. It was Chandler's first goal of the season.
Ohio State (1-3-2) equalized in the 78th minute when after the Dons failed to clear a loose ball in the box. Ohio State forward Stephen Traeger blasted a low shot past Geremy Uhl after picking up loose ball in the box.
The goal by Ohio State stopped USF's streak of not allowing a score in the first 437 minutes of play this season, all but 90 of which were away from home.
"I felt that we played a little bit tired today," said head coach Erik Visser. "Maybe the early kickoff time threw us off. But we came East and got a win and a tie against two quality teams. We had chances today but failed to finish. That being said, Ohio State is a quality team, that got to the NCAA final 16 last year. They are a hard-nosed hard-working group and played well enough to tie us."
Besides Long being named tournament MVP, Chris Rodd, Rob Valentino and Geremy Uhl were named to the all-tournament team.
Things get no easier for USF next weekend when they head south to play top regional contenders Cal State Northridge Friday afternoon and UCLA Sunday, both on the road.
Penn State Classic:
1. San Francisco 1-0-1 (3GF, 1 GA) 2. Boston University 1-0-1 (2 GF, 1 GA) 3. Ohio State 0-1-1 (2 GF, 2 GA) 4. Penn State 0-1-1 (1 GF, 3 GA)
2005 Penn State Classic All-Tournament Team SAN FRANCISCO, Kevin Long, Sr., D (Tournament MVP) SAN FRANCISCO, Geremy Uhl, Sr., GK SAN FRANCISCO, Rob Valentino, Jr., D SAN FRANCISCO, Chris Rodd, Jr., D BOSTON UNIVERSITY, Zach Riffett, Sr., GK BOSTON UNIVERSITY, Derek Puerta, Jr., D BOSTON UNIVERSITY, Steven Gahl, Sr., MF OHIO STATE, Geoff Marsh, So., MF OHIO STATE, Eric Brunner, Jr., D PENN STATE, Jason Yeisley, So., F PENN STATE, Ryan Badaracco, So., D
