PRINCETON, N.J. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson men’s soccer team saw its furious late rally fall short in a 3-2 loss to Penn late Friday afternoon in the opening match of the Princeton Invitational. With the victory, the Quakers pick up their first win of the year and improve to 1-6-0 on the season, while the Knights fall to 3-3-1 overall.

After Penn went up 3-0 with under seven minutes remaining, FDU scored a pair of goals in the 84th and 88th minutes but ran out of time.

The Quakers took an early 1-0 lead in the seventh minute when Stephen Baker buried a shot from approximately 20 yards out as redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Alfredo Malaret, who was making his second career start, was out of position.

Going into halftime, 1-0 would be the score as the Knights outshot Penn 10-9. Malaret made two saves in goal.

To start the second half, Head Coach Seth Roland moved junior Jacob Lissek, who started the first five matches of the season in goal, back between the pipes. However, Penn was able to find the back of the net twice against Lissek to extend its lead to 3-0.

The first goal was scored in the 73rd minute as FDU had a defensive breakdown, which allowed Duke Lacroix to score. The second goal took place one second into the 84th minute as Louis Schott beat Lissek with a header off a corner kick from Alex Reddy.

Down but not out, the Knights began a furious rally. Fifty-two seconds later, senior Antony Moore found fellow classmate and countryman Jack McVey, who cut the deficit to 3-1 with a goal into the lower right corner of the net.

With 2:32 remaining in the contest, McVey made a pass to the inside to freshman Jan Aubert, who ripped a shot from 25 yards out, which found the back of the net, cutting the Quakers’ lead to 3-2.

With all the momentum on its side, FDU nearly tied the game as sophomore Nico Wright ripped a shot but was saved with a minute to go. The Burgundy and Blue eventually ran out of time to give Penn its first victory of the season.

The Knights outshot the Quakers 10-9 in the second half and 20-18 for the match. Twelve of their 20 shots were on goal. FDU also held a 6-3 advantage in corner kicks.

Lissek made three saves over the final 45 minutes for the Knights. Max Kurtzman made 10 saves for Penn. Malaret was charged with the loss in net for FDU.

The Knights will have a quick turnaround as they are scheduled to take on Princeton Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. to conclude the Princeton Invitational.

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