Men’s soccer: Seniors will anchor young Panther squad

With only seven upperclassmen on the 24-player Pitt men’s soccer team, the Panthers will rely… With only seven upperclassmen on the 24-player Pitt men’s soccer team, the Panthers will rely heavily on their seniors to provide leadership this season.

Pitt named two of five returning seniors, midfielders Sam Luffy and Ryan Brode, as captains who will anchor the team throughout the season.

“It’s a big responsibility,” Luffy said. “Ryan and I have been here for four years together now, and we really want to finish our Pitt careers with a strong season.”

Goalkeeper Hami Kara, midfielders  Luffy,n Brode and Olutomi Ibikunle and forward Terry Akpua — all who played significant minutes for Pitt last season — are the five Panther seniors who Pitt head coach Joe Luxbacher expects to anchor his team.

“These seniors bring an excellent core of leadership to our team,” Luxbacher said. “All five of them have excellent work ethics and we’re expecting big things out of them this season.”

Last year, the Panthers finished the season 6-9-2 overall and 1-6-2 in Big East Conference play, finishing seventh out of eight teams in the Big East Blue Division.

Luffy led the team with four goals and nine points. Brode and Akpua each finished with a team-leading three assists each and five points. Ibikunle also scored a goal for the Panthers last year.

Kara enters his second year between the pipes for Pitt. The turkish goalkeeper was in goal for all six Panther wins last fall, and this season he will look to help out the young group of defenders in front of him.

Kara allowed 1.17 goals per game last season with a .700 save percentage. He finished the year with a 6-7-2 overall record.

Offensively, the Panthers will rely heavily on Akpua and Ibikunle. Both players scored game-winning goals last season, but they will need to do even more this time around to help out an offense that often struggled to find the net last year.

The Panthers ranked 10th in the 16 team conference in goals per game with 1.12. Lousville led the Big East with 2.04 goals per game.

To complement the group of seniors, the Panthers also have a highly touted nine-man freshman class coming in. Luxbacher says the older players will be vital in helping the new recruits develop.

“We’re going to be a very young team,” he said. “I think the underclassmen can learn from the older guys how to conduct themselves the right way and learn what Big East soccer is all about, because this is one of the strongest conferences in the country.”

The Big East placed seven teams in the 2010 NCAA Championship, more than any other conference in the country. Louisville finished as the national runner-up, falling in the title game 1-0 to Akron.

The Panthers will face five of those teams this year in West Virginia, Connecticut, Providence, Notre Dame and Georgetown.

With a mixture of youth and experience, Pitt heads into 2011 hoping it can find the right formula for success.

“I know these younger guys will be hungry to play and prove themselves, and the veteran guys are of course going to want to be out there too,” Luxbacher said. “The competition should really help the team as a whole.”

Brode agreed.

“I think the combination of younger and older guys could really be good for us,” he said. “Everyone wants to play and help the team win.”