Women’s Soccer: Panthers shut out Dukes in season opener

The Pitt women’s soccer team began its 2013 season with a 1-0 victory over Duquesne on Sunday — the lone goal tallied by sophomore midfielder Roosa Arvas.

Arvas put the Panthers (1-0) ahead of the host Dukes (1-1) in the 43rd minute with her goal, a 25-yard shot and score assisted by senior forward Dana DelleFemine. In the 83rd minute, Arvas nearly doubled the Panthers’ lead when she fired a shot that caromed off the crossbar.

Junior goalie Nicole D’Agostino recorded five saves en route to blanking the opponents for her fourth career shutout. Pitt head coach Greg Miller praised D’Agostino and the other defenders — seniors Caroline Keefer and Morgan Sharick and junior Jackie Poucel — for their work in the back, but saw room for improvement.

“They all did a great job of putting out fires,” Miller said after the game in a press release. “We could have done a better job of not putting them in a position to make those plays, but they did a fantastic job of disrupting Duquesne’s ability to try to sneak one in on us.”

Duquesne outshout Pitt on the day, 15-12, though both squads managed five shots on target.

Three of Pitt’s shots were taken by forward Carly Seneca, one of four freshmen to start in the Panther lineup, before she left in the 41st minute with a right-knee injury. Midfielders Ella Vanhanen and Siobhan McDonough and defender Kaila Jenkins also got the nod as first-year players in the starting 11. 

Though Miller wishes to see his young team develop game-management skills, the coach was ultimately pleased with his team’s energy.

“Today, it was a matter of trying to execute our game plan and really trying to match their physical intensity,” he said. “As the game wore on, our fitness and ability to handle their physicalness were keys. We had a couple of great opportunities in the second half. As a young team, we didn’t do a great job of managing the game.”

The Panthers’ next contest is Wednesday at No. 23 Ohio State, a school for which Miller served 11 years as an associate head coach before beginning his tenure at Pitt.