Soccer: Marquette presents challenges, Pitt ready

The Pitt women’s soccer team created a nonconference narrative rich in struggle and defeat…. The Pitt women’s soccer team created a nonconference narrative rich in struggle and defeat. But tonight, the Panthers will begin a new chapter as they look for their second win of the season in a tough game — the team’s Big East opener against nationally ranked Marquette.

A step up from  the Panthers’ first seven games, Marquette presents some challenges. The Golden Eagles (7-1) are ranked No. 8 in the coaches’ poll and have won their last three games.

“Marquette is definitely going to be one of the hardest games on our schedule,” said senior goalkeeper Kristina Rioux. “It’s a good test to see where we’re at.”

The Panthers (1-5-2) travel to Milwaukee with a three-game losing streak, during which they’ve been outscored 8-0. For the season, Pitt averages a meager 0.62 goals per game while surrendering 2.50. If they hope to change their fortunes, the Panthers need to start scoring. Marquette has averaged 1.20 goals per game and only surrendered 1.80.

“We need to find a way to put the ball in the net,” said senior midfielder Katie Ruhe. “I think once we get the offensive aspect down, we’ll be fine.”

The Panthers focused much of their practice time this week on finishing shots. An emphasis on offense will not only lead to more goals, said Coach Sue-Moy Chin, but it will also help prevent the other team from scoring them.

“We’ve been working with our backs on their sense of positioning and defending crosses,” said Chin. “But we’re also working on the attacking side, relieving pressure [on the defense] by keeping possession of the ball. We felt like we were constantly defending [in the first few games].”

Coach Chin added that the Panthers are relatively young, and although her team has progressed a bit slower than she would’ve liked, the girls are moving in the right direction. Ruhe echoed this sentiment.

“We have a young team, so we’ve had to overcome some differences, which is something we haven’t ever had to do,” said Ruhe. “Our first game, I think there were only four girls out on the field that had ever played together before.”

Seven freshmen and five sophomores have seen action this year for the Panthers.

Still, the team expects production from everyone on the field, and they’ll need it if they hope to defeat Marquette. Last year, the Golden Eagles beat Pitt with a score of 2-1 before eventually advancing to the third round of the NCAA tournament. It’s still early, but their hot start has definitely caught Pitt’s attention.

“Marquette’s having a great season so far,” said Coach Chin. “They have a lot of different threats in their attack. Their system is very difficult to play against. But, like any system, it has weaknesses, and we’ll try to exploit those weaknesses.”

The Panthers will face two of the conference’s perennial powers in their next couple of games. Marquette, led by reigning Big East Offensive Player of the Week Maegan Kelly, has outshot their opponents 151-45 this season. They’ve accumulated 22 goals while giving up just five — equal to Pitt’s total for the season so far. On Sunday, the Panthers will host South Florida, last year’s Big East runner-up.

“Our conference is a lot tougher than our out-of-conference schedule,” said Rioux. “We played Penn State [earlier this year], which was our biggest test. That team resembles what we’re going to play in our conference, and we did pretty well in that game. So that actually gave us hope for our conference schedule. But it’s definitely going to get a lot tougher. That’s why we’re working on getting everything in sync for our game on Thursday.”

Aside from winning, Rioux said that she hopes to see her team increase their intensity, an aspect with which the Panthers struggled during nonconference games.

“We played down to teams,” said Rioux. “We need to keep the tempo going the whole game.”

Getting a quick goal, winning “50-50” balls and going strong into tackles are ways in which Rioux said her team can dictate the flow of the game.

The Panthers will look to forget their early season strife and start the Big East season — which runs until the end of October — with a win. Yet, in addition to leaving Milwaukee victorious, Coach Chin said she expects her team to raise their play to another level.

“The girls always get excited with conference play,” said Chin. “We just need to execute better. If we start executing well, then I think we’ll have a chance every game we play.”

“I expect everyone to come out and compete,” added Ruhe. “We’re not a bad team. We need to prove to ourselves, and to everyone else, that that’s true. That’s what I’m hoping for this weekend.”