Women’s soccer: Panthers finish 3-2 on road trip

The No. 25 Pitt women’s soccer team lost its second consecutive game on Sunday after falling… The No. 25 Pitt women’s soccer team lost its second consecutive game on Sunday after falling 2-1 to Penn in overtime.

The Panthers (4-2-0) scored first, when Christina Nicassio netted a goal in the 52nd minute off assists from Ashley Cuba and Liz Carroll. Nicassio participated in her first game since undergoing surgery on a broken hand.

“It was great to have Christina come back,” Pitt head coach Sue-Moy Chin said. “She came off the bench and was a great spark for us.”

Penn (3-1-0) played catch-up for most of the second half. Then, with time running out in the game, Penn’s Kaitlin Campbell forced overtime with a header goal in the 84th minute. She was assisted on the goal by Theresa Yankovich.

Penn didn’t take long to end the game in overtime.

Three minutes into the extra period, Marin McDermott sealed the win for the Quakers with a goal between the legs of Pitt’s goalkeeper.

“It was uncharacteristic for us to give up that kind of goal,” Chin said. “We have to work on closing out a game, which we’ve done pretty well in the past.”

Neither team scored in the first period, although both had its opportunities.

Pitt accumulated three shots on goal before the break, while the Quakers had six scoring chances.

Chin said the Panthers controlled the majority of the game, despite the fast start by the Quakers.

“I thought we played pretty well,” Chin said. “There were a couple opportunities we didn’t capitalize on in the first half.

The Panthers led Penn in total shots 11-8 following the first period. The shot totals evened out in the second half, with the Panthers finishing with 17 shots to Penn’s 16.

Ashley Habbel, who needs one goal to break Pitt’s career-scoring record>, had two shots in the game. Nicassio led the Panthers with three shots on goal to go with her solo score.

It was Pitt’s second loss by one goal.

On Friday, Drexel defeated the Panthers 1-0. Chin said the team is ready to move forward and that she was pleased with Pitt’s play on the Panthers’ five-game road trip, during which they went 3-2.

Pitt looks to get back to the winning ways of its first four games when the team takes on West Virginia at home on Friday in the first Big East matchup.