Pitt men’s soccer battled back on the road against Providence Sunday afternoon and eventually… Pitt men’s soccer  team battled back on the road against Providence Sunday afternoon and eventually tied the game late. Unfortunately, the Friars scored even later.

Panther senior Andy Kalas scored with eight minutes to go to tie the game at one, but Matt Marcin’s goal in the 85th minute gave Providence a 2-1 victory over Pitt and dropped the Panthers to seventh in the division. Only the top six qualify for the conference tournament.

“The guys tied it up, and we thought maybe we had the momentum,” Pitt coach Joe Luxbacher said. “And then three minutes later we give up a goal.”

Kalas called the outcome “very, very disappointing.”

“It was definitely heartbreaking,” he said. “They got back what we worked so hard for the whole second half.”

Providence entered the game in seventh place in the Big East’s Blue Division with four points. Pitt stood above them in sixth, holding the final spot in the Big East tournament with five points —  meaning the winner Sunday would take control of its postseason destiny.

Luxbacher said the high stakes made for a nervous start for his team. Providence outshot the Panthers 7-3 in the first half.

“I don’t know that [the Friars] got off to a real fast start,” he said. “I think it was more that we just were scrambling early. Obviously there was a lot riding on the game, and our guys were a little bit tight.”

Providence took advantage of Pitt’s early jitters and jumped out to a lead in the 15th minute. Andrew Sousa took a pass from Giuseppe Guerriero and sent a shot past Pitt’s Hami Kara to put the Friars up, 1-0.

“In the first half, we didn’t play that well,” Luxbacher said. “In the second half, we had the better of the play and had some chances.”

Knowing what a loss would mean, Pitt came out after halftime and out-cornered Providence 4-2, but none of Pitt’s shots found twine until Kalas broke the shutout in the 82nd minute. Kalas gathered Ryan Brode’s corner kick inside the box and put it past goalkeeper Jhojan Obando to tie the game at one.

The goal was Kalas’ first of the year, and the game seemed headed to overtime.

But Providence changed that three minutes later when Marcin cranked the game-winning shot off the left post and in. Kara had no chance on the perfectly-placed “rocket,” as Luxbacher called it.

“That shot was a laser,” Kalas said. “It was a great goal.”

The goal was the senior’s fourth of the year. It also marked the second straight game the Friars won in nail-biting fashion, as they beat Marquette on Saturday on a goal by Guerriero with 1:51 left in double overtime.

With the win, Providence leapfrogged Pitt in the standings and moved to 2-4-1 in conference play. The loss dropped the Panthers to 1-4-2 in the Big East and 6-7-2 overall. Providence now has a two-point lead over Pitt for sixth place, and each team has two games remaining.

Pitt is two points back with two games to go and the Panthers have to beat either third-place Notre Dame on the road Wednesday or second-place Connecticut at home Saturday to earn three points and have hope of reclaiming sixth place.

Providence will play last-place Seton Hall and fourth-place West Virginia.

That doesn’t mean the Panthers will open up the offense, though. According to Luxbacher, the best thing his team can do is continue to play within its system.

“We have to get a win, but you can’t go out and play a wide open game against a Notre Dame or a Connecticut,” Luxbacher said. “There’s not a lot of change you can make other than the fact that if you have a chance, you have to score.”

Kalas said there is pressure in not having any room left for error.

“There’s some pressure knowing that now we have to get the points that are out there,” he said. “We have two very tough opponents. I guess we’ll just have to turn up the urgency a little bit.”