Men’s Soccer: Pitt wins in double overtime

It took two overtime periods to decide a winner on Sunday, but thanks to the heroics of Olutomi Ibikunle, the Pitt men’s soccer team is off to a hot start.

A golden goal off the foot of Ibikunle pushed Pitt past St. Bonaventure, 2-1, in double overtime at Founders Field, as the Panthers erased a second-half deficit to take down the Bonnies… It took two overtime periods to decide a winner on Sunday, but thanks to the heroics of Olutomi Ibikunle, the Pitt men’s soccer team is off to a hot start.

A golden goal off the foot of Ibikunle pushed Pitt past St. Bonaventure, 2-1, in double overtime at Founders Field, as the Panthers erased a second-half deficit to take down the Bonnies.

Ibikunle tapped the ball off an Andy Kalas header past the Bonnies’ goalkeeper David Flynn to give Pitt a 2-0 record to start the year.

“Today’s game was what we needed,” Pitt head coach Joe Luxbacher said. “It was a good win over a good team.”

The Panthers fell behind early in the contest when St. Bonaventure junior midfielder Chris Leko buried a cross pass from Joshua Gonsalves and put the Bonnies up 1-0 in the 27th minute.

“In the first half, we didn’t play as well,” Luxbacher said. “We still had a couple good chances, but they got a goal.”

The Panthers out-shot the Bonnies 5-3 in the opening half, but Flynn kept the Panthers off the board. The stingy junior goalkeeper earned a shutout in St. Bonaventure’s season opener Wednesday against Cleveland State.

But Pitt senior midfielder Justin Boehm cracked Flynn in the 61st minute with a one-timer off a pass from Sam Luffy to tie the match.

“The guys were resilient,” Luxbacher said. “We made some adjustments at halftime, but adjustments don’t really matter unless players go out and carry them out.”

St. Bonaventure was playing three inside midfielders, and Luxbacher said that the Panthers were having difficulty with that in the first half. But after some strategy changes at halftime, Pitt learned how to overcome the midfielders.

“We dominated the second half,” he said.

The Panthers controlled the game’s flow from there and out-shot St. Bonaventure 8-2 in the second half, though they were unable to capitalize on any more of their chances. Ibikunle’s goal in the 105th minute capped the victory and gave the Panthers their first 2-0 start since 2002.

“We’re getting good chances,” Luxbacher said. “We have so many good players in there [offensively] that we’re going to get better every game. At least that’s our goal.”

The Panthers out-shot the Bonnies 17-7 for the game.

Pitt goalie Hami Kara made three saves to record his second win in as many starts as a Panther. Kara played the last two seasons at Manchester Community College, where he earned NJCAA First Team All-America honors.

“He’s a consummate professional in how he approaches training and how he mentally studies for the game,” Luxbacher said. “We’re only two games in, but I guess I like what I see.”

St. Bonaventure dropped to 1-1 for the year with the loss. The team plays at James Madison Thursday night. Pitt, meanwhile, travels down Fifth Avenue to face Duquesne at 7 p.m.

“We battled back [today] being a goal down, which is tough,” Luxbacher said.

Last year, the Panthers only managed one win and two ties, while losing the rest of their matches – including an exhibition loss to Duquesne. Tonight, the panthers will look for redemption.

“Duquesne could be the next step. They’re a good team,” Luxbacher said.