Women’s soccer: Despite succesful season, Pitt just misses Big East tournament birth

The Pitt women’s soccer team split its matchups this weekend as it traveled to New England to… The Pitt women’s soccer team split its matchups this weekend as it traveled to New England to take on Providence on Friday and Connecticut on Sunday.

Pitt (8-5-5 overall, 3-3-5 Big East) would have needed to win both games over the weekend to jump into the top five of the American division and advance to the Big East tournament.

Pitt: 0

Providence: 1

An early goal by Providence knocked Pitt out of the game and the Big East tournament.

The Panthers finished tied with Providence in sixth place of the American division. They were two points away from fifth-place Connecticut.

“This is the best season that Pitt soccer has had in our history,” head coach Sue-Moy Chin said. “Right now, though, we are disappointed knowing that the season is over for us.”

Tara Ricciardi scored the winning goal in the 13th minute off an assist from Caitlin Hostetler and Jill Camburn.

Chin said the game was disappointing because the Panthers started slow when they needed the game to stay in tournament contention.

The Panthers had several opportunities to score, with 16 shots — nine of them¬ on goal — during the game.

Although Providence out-shot Pitt 11-5 in the first period, the Panthers attempted 11 shots after the break to the Friars’ 10.

“It was a tale of two halves,” Chin said. “We played extremely well in the second half, but we weren’t able to find the equalizer.”

The Friars out-shot the Panthers 21-16 for the game, but Pitt held a 7-3 corner kick advantage.

Liz Carroll and Kat Weiler led the Panther attack.

Carroll attempted four shots, with three on goal. Weiler turned defense into offense with three shots on the day.

Pitt goalkeeper Morie Kephart had seven saves, while Providence’s Jill Schott stopped nine shots.

Pitt: 1

Connecticut: 0

In its eighth overtime game of the season, Pitt defeated Connecticut to end its weekend and regular season on a high note.

“It’s a little bittersweet today,” Chin said. “We are happy about the win and what we accomplished, but we look back and see [that] if we would have won on Friday, we would be in the tournament.”

In the 93rd minute, senior Katie Caslin booted the winning goal to the upper left corner of the net off a Carroll assist. Carroll attempted five shots of her own in the game.

The goal marked Caslin’s first of the season, and Chin said it was a way for the seniors to end their careers on a positive feeling.

“We didn’t have the tournament to play for coming into this game, but we wanted to try to achieve goals and work toward the future of the program,” Chin said. “That was the first time we beat Connecticut in our history.”

Kephart collected 12 saves, including seven in the first half. Connecticut goalkeeper Jessica Dulski stopped five Panther shot attempts.

Pitt led the Huskies in corner kicks 6-2. The teams were virtually even in shot attempts, with the Huskies holding a slight 22-21 advantage.

“We had a lot of things we were looking for, and I wasn’t sure how they would respond, but they responded,” Chin said. “They played tremendous in regulation and in the overtime.”

Chin said that despite not making the Big East tournament, the team broke the record for shutouts (10) and tied the record for wins (eight) in a season.