Women’s soccer: Panthers lose, tie over the weekend

The Pitt women’s soccer team entered the weekend with the chance to move up in the Big East… The Pitt women’s soccer team entered the weekend with the chance to move up in the Big East standings, but missed opportunities and mental lapses proved costly as the Panthers earned only one point between its two games — one against St. John’s and the other against Syracuse.

Pitt head coach Sue-Moy Chin said she talked with the team about capitalizing on opportunities before the game against Syracuse on Sunday.

“We did a good job of it in the first half, and then we relaxed a little bit too much,” Chin said. “That’s going to be a focus, but also cleaning up our mistakes in the back and working on concentration toward the end of the games.”

The top five teams in each Big East division qualify for the Big East tournament. Right now, the Pitt women’s soccer team is in eighth place in the American division.

With the opportunity to pick up points over the weekend, the Panthers fell to St. John’s and tied Syracuse. A victory over the Orange would’ve given Pitt three points, moving the team into a tie with its opponent. Instead, the Panthers earned one point and remain in last place, three points behind the Orange and five points behind Providence and South Florida.

Pitt’s Ashley Cuba said the Panthers aren’t giving up on their goal of advancing to the Big East tournament, adding that if Pitt wins its final four Big East games, they’ll be in a good position to qualify.

“We just need to keep our heads,” she said. “We’re not done trying to qualify for the Big East tournament.”

St. John’s 1, Pitt 0

During the first 45 minutes against St. John’s, Panther goalkeeper Morie Kephart stopped all five Red Storm shots, giving Pitt a chance to take the lead.

“They brought a lot of pressure early,” Chin said. “But we were able to sustain to go into the half at 0-0. Then, we brought a lot of pressure in the second half. We created opportunities, but we were unable to score.”

Early in the second half, the Panthers took three of the first four shots, looking to get on the board first. But it was St. John’s that broke the scoreless tie in the 66th minute.

Anna Torregiano passed to midfielder Amy Marron, who faked right and fired a shot under the crossbar from the top of the box. Marron’s third goal of the season was enough to hand St. John’s the victory.

“After the goal, the girls tried really hard to tie it,” Chin said. “But the shots we were getting went high.”

Katelyn Ruhe had several opportunities to tie the game, including a chance in the 71st minute. Open at the top of the box, Ruhe’s shot went high over the crossbar. Soon after, St. John’s goalkeeper Kristin Russell stopped another Ruhe shot.

In the 90th minute, Alexandra Jaffe had a last chance to tie the game for the Panthers, but Russell made her fourth save of the game to seal the St. John’s victory. Kephart finished the game with five saves.

Cuba said Pitt continued to struggle with making the most of scoring chances.

“We played really well; we just couldn’t finish,” Cuba said. “It was unfortunate the way we lost. We were all pretty bummed.”

Ruhe finished with four shots, three on goal, and forward Jen Leaverton led the Red Storm with nine shots, including three on goal.

“We were just disappointed with the shots we gave up and the mistakes we made,” Chin said.

Pitt 1, Syracuse 1

The Panthers scored early and held off Syracuse until two minutes remained in the game, when the Orange tied the game and prevented Pitt from earning its second Big East victory.

Klarissa Ames scored in the 14th minute off a pass from Ruhe. Ames buried a shot into the left corner of the goal after Ruhe found her open in the box. It was Ames’ first goal of the season.

Pitt went into the half with a 1-0 lead, taking all four shots on goal.

“Morie Kephart made a couple of great saves early, and the defense played well,” Chin said. “We were able to build our attack and got a great goal.”

But the Orange took over in the second half, keeping pressure on Pitt’s side of play. Syracuse almost tied the game in the 81st minute, but the header hit the goal post.

In the 88th minute, Jenna Ricken took a wide open shot after Pitt was unable to reset on a throw-in, and the Orange finally slipped the ball past Kephart. Syracuse out-shot the Panthers 11-2 in the second half.

“We sat back a little too much in the second half with the lead,” Chin said. “We made mistakes, and they tied the game. It was very, very disappointing.”

Neither team was able to score in overtime. Pitt had three shots on goal and four corner kicks in the first overtime, and both teams registered solid scoring opportunities in the second overtime.

Chin said the team responded well in overtime, creating some solid scoring opportunities. But she said the Panthers need to work on shooting the ball low so the goalkeeper has to go down and make the save. Cuba said the Panthers also need to improve on being prepared to shoot.

“We just need to be ready for the ball when it comes to us,” Cuba said. “We just need to be more ready in the box to finish.”

Ruhe led the Panthers with three shots, two on goal. Kephart made eight saves in the game.