Indiana University Athletics
USA Falls 4-2 To Bolivia at Pan American Games
7/18/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
July 18, 2007
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - - ­­­Indiana men's soccer sophomore Kevin  Alston (Silver Spring, Md.) and redshirt freshman Daniel Kelly (Hendersonville, Tenn./Hendersonville) continued play with the U-18 National Team on Wednesday as the U.S. fell 4-2 to Bolivia in Group B action at the Pan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The U.S. wraps up pool play on Saturday against Mexico. That match, slated for a 9 a.m. EDT start, will be broadcast live on ESPN Deportes and is being played at Maracanã Stadium, home of the 1950 World Cup final. The U.S. is currently 1-1-0 in pool play, while Bolivia improves to 1-0-1 . Mexico (0-0-1) will face Venezuela (0-1-0) later this evening. The top two teams from each group, plus the best third-place team, will advance to the Pan American semifinals.
For the second-consecutive match, both Alson and Kelly were in the starting 11. The U.S. took an early 1-0 lead on a goal from the University of Maryland's Omar Gonzalez in the 34th minute, and Gonzalez added another score just eight minutes later as the U.S. led 2-0 at the half. The U.S. nearly picked up a third goal in the match when Alston was fouled and a penalty was awarded. UCLA's Michael Stephens took the kick but came up empty handed.
Bolivia cut the lead to just one with a score in the 47th minute before tying things up on Juan Eduardo's goal in the 56th minute. Bolivia added the go-ahead goal seven minutes later, and Gustavo Pinedo closed out the scoring in the 81st minute.
Alston and Kelly are joined by nine other collegians on the 17-man roster, led by U-18 Men's National Team head coach Bob Jenkins. It is Alston's first appearance with the national team since 2005 when a broken leg cut short his time at the U-17 World Championship in Peru.
The 2007 Pan Am Games run July 12-29, featuring 5,662 athletes from 42 countries in the Americas competing in venues throughout Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The event originated in 1951 and is held once every four years in the summer prior to the Olympics. In addition to the two soccer team members, men's basketball player D.J. White was named to the 12-man team which will compete July 25-29 at the games.
