Fighting Irish pummel Panthers, 4-0, in Waldrum’s return

In his return to South Bend after coaching at Notre Dame from 1999 to 2013, Pitt women’s soccer head coach Randy Waldrum saw his Panthers get thoroughly dominated on both sides of the ball, losing 4-0 to the Fighting Irish Thursday night.

The Fighting Irish (7-3, 1-1 ACC) outshot the Panthers (3-5-2, 0-1-1 ACC) 20-1 and 11-0 on shots on goal, as the Panthers had no offensive cohesion to build any good scoring chances. It was the third time in four games that the Panthers were shut out, all of which resulted in losses. It’s also the 26th straight game without an ACC win for Pitt — the Panthers haven’t won since they beat Miami 1-0 in 2016.

Notre Dame quickly asserted its dominance with three shots in the first five minutes, including one from sophomore midfielder Luisa Delgado that forced a save from Pitt redshirt junior goalie Amaia Pena.

The Fighting Irish scored the first goal of the game off of a corner kick in the 10th minute. Junior forward Eva Hurm put the ball squarely in the goal box, and junior defender Jenna Winebrenner was there to poke it past Pena to make a 1-0 lead.

Delgado continued the onslaught of shots for Notre Dame in the 25th minute as she drove down the end line, moved inside and took a shot on her left foot, but Pena made a brilliant save and punched it over the goal for a corner.

Pitt’s only shot in the game came from first-year defender Athalie Palomo. She took a left-footed try from inside the box that went just wide of the net in the 29th minute.

The second goal of the game came on a bad misjudgement by Pena on a free kick, after which first-year Notre Dame forward Kiki Van Nanten got onto the ball and easily put it into the open net.

First-year midfielder Erin Hohstein shot from outside the box in the 43rd minute but Pena once again made a great save, tapping it over the bar.

The second half started with a substitution for the Panthers as sophomore goalkeeper Katherine Robinson came in for Pena.

Pitt made another mistake on the third goal, with first-year midfielder Mackenzie Edwards losing the ball from her feet. Delgado corralled the ball and delivered an easy cross to an open Hurm, who put it in from right inside the box in the 55th minute.

Van Nanten got her second goal in the 61st minute to make it 4-0. She got open on a long pass from her goalkeeper, senior Brooke Littman, and immediately took a shot from her right foot, putting it past Robinson.

Van Nanten got a chance to complete her hat trick on a left-footed shot from outside the box three minutes later, but a diving save from Robinson kept it out. On the ensuing corner kick, first-year defender Bea Franklin shot a header that Robinson saved by hitting the ball up into the air and catching it.

Notre Dame’s last chance almost made it 5-0. Junior forward Erin Ospeck took a shot in the box, forcing Robinson to make a diving save in the 85th minute.

The Panthers’ young team will continue their conference schedule and look to snap the team’s ACC winless streak when they face Miami on the road this Sunday. It will be a revenge game for Pitt, considering the Panthers lost 3-2 to Miami at home last year after being up 2-0.