Men’s Soccer: Panthers kick season-high 20 shots but end with a tie

The Pitt men’s soccer team registered a season-high 20 shots against Cleveland State, but the… The Pitt men’s soccer team registered a season-high 20 shots against Cleveland State, but the Panthers still failed to come out of Wednesday’s match with a win, tying the Vikings 2-2.

Pitt came close to earning its first victory since Sept. 1, as it led 2-1 late in the game.

But Cleveland State’s Josh Williams scored the tying goal with seven minutes left in the game.

“We had 20 shots, a lot of quality chances, scored two good goals, and we hit the crossbar with one that didn’t go in,” Pitt coach Joe Luxbacher said. “The disappointing thing is we gave up a goal late.”

Youth supplied the offense against the Vikings, as sophomores Ryan Brode and Sam Luffy scored for the Panthers, who now stand at 1-11-2 on the season and 0-7-2 in the Big East.

While the 20 shots is a season high, the Panthers have struggled to finish their chances all year.

“We’re always trying to work on finishing,” Luxbacher said. “That’s the difference between an average and a good team.”

Of Pitt’s 11 loses, seven were by one goal and three were by two goals. Finishing chances in those games would have made for a very different season.

“All those games you have chances to score,” Luxbacher said. “If you make a play or two, you win them, [and] if you don’t, you don’t.”

Senior forward Slavisa Ubiparipovic also scored a goal for Cleveland State, opening the scoring in the 11th minute.

The Panthers return to Founder’s Field Saturday afternoon to take on Notre Dame (8-6-1, 6-3 Big East) at 1 p.m. Pitt is still searching for its first Big East win of the season with three games left on the conference schedule.

“Notre Dame is another level up above Cleveland State,” Luxbacher said. “We’re going to have to play tight defense and work on trying to get goals.”