Weekend Sports Recap | Women’s soccer dominates again

As the new month begins, the fall sports seasons are starting to heat up as they reach mid-season. Let’s catch up on some Panthers action that fans missed this past weekend.

Cross Country

Pitt cross country participated in the Joe Piane Invitational hosted by Notre Dame. The women’s team finished with a total time of 1:26:55 which earned them sixth place in the meet. The men placed 11th out of 18 total teams, finishing with a total time of 2:02:10. 

The Panthers women’s team saw three runners finish in the top 50 with another coming in at 51st. Senior Sadie Carey-Tharp led the way for the Panthers, coming in 18th place with a time of 16:56.1. Next up were junior Winnie Incorvaia and senior Emily Brown finishing at 26th and 35th place, respectively. The former ACC freshman of the week, Camy Kiser, showed a strong performance, coming in at 51st place.

The Panthers men’s team only had two runners finish in the top 50. Coming in first for the second consecutive meet was senior Luke Henseler with a time of 24:10.05 — finishing in 37th place. Senior Jack Miller finished right behind Hensler, coming in 38th place with a time of 24:11.4. Senior Sam Otis — who competed in his first meet of the year — finished in 56th place.

The Panther’s next meet is Oct. 14th at the University of Virginia Pre Nationals. This will be their last meet before competing in the ACC championships starting on Oct. 27th. 

Men’s Soccer

The Panthers men’s soccer team locked in a 0-0 draw with No. 18 North Carolina. The goalless game featured 11 shots and six corner kicks by both teams. After a first half dominated by the Tar Heels, the Panthers took more control over the game in the second half. The second half featured eight shots compared to the three they took in the first half. Senior midfielder Filip Mirkovic notched two shots on goal while juniors midfielder Michael Sullivan and forward Luis Sahmkow both had shots saved.

Panthers sophomore goalkeeper Cabral Carter finished with a career-high five saves in one of the best games in his young career. His biggest moment came in the 73rd minute when he smacked the ball up over the goal after a Tar Heels attacker got free in the box. First-year midfielder Santiago Ferreira, brother of US men’s national team player Jesus Ferreira, made his first career start. 

After dropping a game early in the season, the Panthers avoided their second home loss of the season and improved their overall home winning percentage to .823 since 2019. The Panthers take on Virginia Tech on Oct. 6th in their third straight home game.

Women’s Soccer

The Panthers women’s soccer team kept the great start to their season rolling with a 2-0 win against Boston College. The Panthers dominated this game, holding 62% of the possession time during their win. The Panthers outshot their opponents 23-5, with 18 of their shots being on goal, and also earned eight corner kicks.

Junior forward Sarah Schupansky started the scoring off early in the fifth minute for the Panthers, netting a goal assisted by first-year midfielder Deborah Abiodun. The Panthers’ offense kept their foot on attack, adding 11 more shots but couldn’t find the back of the net again for the rest of the first half.

The Panthers kept the momentum rolling well into the second half as the Panthers’ attack kept the pressure up. In the 57th minute, senior forward Amanda West made a move and found junior midfielder Ellie Coffield, who scored the Panther’s second goal. Sophomore goalkeeper Ellie Breech didn’t have much work on the night and made her two saves comfortably.

The Panthers are sitting with seven points right now in the ACC standings, a win away from being tied for first place. The Panthers next game is at home on Oct. 6th against Duke.

Swim and Dive

On Friday, the Panthers swim and dive team hosted their Blue Gold intrasquad meet. The men’s and women’s teams both divided themselves into two teams, the blue squad and the gold squad. The blue squad beat the gold teams in the women’s and men’s meet. The Panthers continue their season against Stanford on Oct. 13.