Panthers soccer open seasons in dominant fashion

In addition to Pitt football’s headline-grabbing win over conference rival Syracuse on Saturday, other Panthers teams boasted a dominant weekend. Men’s soccer routed Louisville on Saturday in its final home exhibition game before beginning the regular season, while women’s soccer traveled to Navy and picked up its fourth consecutive win.

Women’s soccer

The Panthers remained undefeated behind stellar defensive and goalie play after a win at Navy on Sunday. Junior goalkeeper Katherine Robinson led the charge, facing nine shots and making two saves en route to a shutout. Sunday’s match was Robinson’s second consecutive shutout and fourth individual win of 2020.

Sophomore forward Amanda West scored the match’s only goal in the 96th minute to walk off Navy and give Pitt the win. With the score, West continued to climb on Pitt’s all-time scoring leaderboard. She now sits alone in sixth place on Pitt women’s soccer’s all-time goals list with 14 and is now tied for sixth in total points with 40. West’s goal, which came on a penalty kick, was set up by fellow sophomore forward Leah Pais drawing a foul close to the goal.

The win propels the Panthers to 4-0 on the season, which is tied for the best start in program history. Pitt’s next match is set for Thursday versus The Citadel at 4 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.

Men’s soccer

Pitt men’s soccer also had a strong weekend, topping Louisville by a convincing 5-0 score.

Pitt dominated the Cardinals on both offense and defense, outshooting them by 13. Pitt set the match’s tone early in the first half as senior Edward Kizza put Pitt up 1-0 with a goal in the 27th minute. Kizza’s score was assisted by fellow senior Alexander Dexter, who added a goal of his own just two minutes later to put the Panthers ahead 2-0.

Dexter scored again to give Pitt a commanding 3-0 lead just three minutes later. That score held until halftime. Pitt’s offense had already provided more than enough scoring for the defense, which held Louisville to only four shots, to work with.

Graduate assistant Nico Campuzano and redshirt sophomore Alexander Steinbach combined to deliver the shutout in goal. In the second half, Pitt continued the onslaught by adding two insurance goals. Sophomore Valentine Noel added a goal in the 63rd minute. Six minutes later, sophomore Veljko Petkovic, who assisted Dexter’s first goal in the first half, added a score of his own to increase the lead to five.

With exhibition play now in the past, Pitt looks ahead to the regular season. The Panthers’ first match is set for Saturday at Notre Dame. 

Cross Country

Despite not participating in interscholastic competition yet, Pitt cross country took advantage of the weekend by setting up competition within its own ranks.

The Panthers held an intrasquad meet at the Youthtowne cross country course in Clinton on Friday, with “Team Gold” taking down “Team Royal” to earn the overall win. Competition included both a 5k and 7k race.

The Panthers will officially get their season underway on Friday, Oct. 2 when they travel to Annapolis, Md., to take on the United States Naval Academy.