Men’s soccer: Panthers win tournament, move to 4-0

The Pitt men’s soccer team brought solid defense, perfect goalkeeping and an offensive… The Pitt men’s soccer team brought solid defense, perfect goalkeeping and an offensive outburst to the Pitt/Nike Tournament this weekend. Because of that, it took home the title.

A stellar performance from goalkeeper Hami Kara and the Pitt defense led the Panthers past Army, 1-0, Friday night, and Pitt’s offense exploded Sunday against St. Joseph’s on the way to a resounding 5-0 victory and the tournament title.

“We’re playing better every game,” Pitt coach Joe Luxbacher said Sunday. “We’re still not where we can be, but it’s definitely a solid win and a good weekend.”

Kara now has three shutouts in four games as a Panther. Pitt’s veteran defense — three of five starters are seniors — yielded just two shots on goal against Army.

“Defensively, we’ve been strong all year,” Luxbacher said.

Still, Pitt needed a goal to break the deadlock with the Black Knights. Junior midfielder Ryan Brode provided just that in the 76th minute when he buried a shot past goalkeeper Ryan Currens.

Pitt would have left Founders Field with more than one goal if not for Currens’ six saves on the night. The Panthers racked up 17 corner kicks Friday, breaking the previous school record of 12 against Cincinnati in 2002.

The Panthers found the back of the net plenty of times on Sunday, however.

Junior Sam Luffy and senior Alex Betancourt each scored twice, and the Panthers drubbed St. Joseph’s, 5-0, in the program’s most resounding victory in a decade.

“We finally broke out offensively,” Luxbacher said. “We’ve been playing pretty good soccer and creating a lot of chances but not always finding a way to stick them in. Today, we did.”

Pitt hadn’t scored five goals in a game since a 5-1 victory over Bucknell in 2000, but the Panthers scored early and often Sunday at North Allegheny High School.

Betancourt, who hit the crossbar on a shot on Friday, found his own rebound and put it past Hawks’ goalkeeper Michael Moulton in the 16th minute to give Pitt the lead. Betancourt scored again in the 34th minute when he controlled a throw-in and shot it past Moulton from 20 yards out.

Junior Adam Monteverde joined in the scoring spree when he converted a cross from Terry Boland in the 42nd minute to push the score to 3-0.

Luffy then capped the night for the Panthers in the second half, scoring twice in less than four minutes — both off passes from Terry Akpua — to give Pitt the decisive victory.

The Panthers out-shot St. Joseph’s, 21-5, for the game.

The strong offensive on Sunday propelled the Panthers to the Pitt/Nike Tournament title, with Betancourt, Brode, Kalas and Kara each earning all-tournament team honors. Both the Panthers and Duquesne went 2-0 on the weekend, but Pitt out-scored the Dukes, 6-4. Duquesne beat Army, 3-1, and St. Joseph’s, 1-0.

Pitt improved to 4-0 on the season with the perfect weekend, and has already doubled their win total from all of last season, but a tough road lies ahead.

The Panthers take on James Madison (4-0) Friday at 5 p.m. in Morgantown, W. Va., as part of the Big East Partner Weekend.

After shutting down Army and St. Joseph’s, Kara and the stingy Pitt defense will have to worry about containing the Dukes’ C.J. Sapong, who has six goals this year.

“We have to prepare and step up against James Madison,” Luxbacher said. “They have one of the top goal scorers in the country, so that’ll be a big test for us. Our guys are looking forward to it.”