Men’s Soccer: Panthers drop third straight against No. 5 Georgetown

Despite a promising start to the season, the Pitt men’s soccer team has struggled to cope with…

The Pitt men’s soccer team fell to 0-2 in Big East play.

Huailei Wang, Senior Staff Photographer

Despite a promising start to the season, the Pitt men’s soccer team has struggled to cope with life in the challenging Big East.

After dropping a 3-1 contest to No. 5 Georgetown (10-0-1, 2-0 Big East) on Saturday night at the Petersen Sports Complex, the Panthers (6-3-2, 0-2 Big East) have now lost three games in a row — all at home.

But Pitt’s performance against the Hoyas — one of the best college teams in the nation — showed that the Panthers have the ability to compete against the conference’s elite.

After allowing an early goal, Pitt was able to hold off a late first-half surge from the Hoyas, heading into the locker room down by just one.

And at the beginning of the second half, the Panthers dominated a 10-minute stretch during which Pitt almost scored an equalizing goal multiple times.

But, as great teams do, Georgetown held on and capitalized when given an opportunity to double its advantage.

After Pitt failed to clear a bouncing ball, Hoya forward Steve Neumann gathered it and rocketed a shot on net that Pitt goalie Lee Johnston saved. The ball then headed right to Georgetown’s Brandon Allen, who buried the chance for his eighth goal of the season and second of the match.

As they have done multiple times this year, the Panthers battled back.

Off Pitt’s first corner kick of the match, redshirt freshman Ryan Myers sent a nice cross into the box that found junior defender John Cordier, Pitt’s co-captain, who directed the ball into the back of the net.

Down just 2-1 against the fifth-best team in the country, Pitt seemed energized and confident that it could level the game.

But that feeling was short-lived.

Less than 10 minutes after Pitt’s goal, Georgetown secured the victory when Neumann fired a ball into the roof of Johnston’s net. Neumann finished the game with three points: one goal and two assists.

After the game, Cordier explained that he was pleased with Pitt’s second-half performance.

“After halftime, we realized that even though they are the No. 5 team in the country, we can play with them,” he said. “I’m proud of the way the guys surged in the second half and didn’t quit.”

Even though the team’s only goal came off a set piece, Pitt sophomore forward Chu Chu Onyeukwu believes that the Panthers’ offensive patience will eventually pay off.

“When I got out there tonight, I saw that if I slow down, I can always do something better with the ball. Unfortunately, it didn’t translate to a goal tonight, but I will keep improving,” Onyeukwu said.

Pitt head coach Joe Luxbacher applauded his team’s effort, but he admitted that the Panthers need to play smarter Wednesday in their next game at No. 8 Notre Dame.

“I told the guys after the game tonight that before Wednesday’s game we’re not going to be getting any more skilled or fitter,” he said. “So if we want to walk away with a good result, we need to get smarter and play smarter soccer.”

Carrying a three-game losing streak, the Panthers will head on the road to face the Fighting Irish before traveling to Seton Hall Saturday for another conference matchup.