Women’s Soccer: Cuba leads Panthers past Ohio State

Freshman Ashley Cuba scored both goals for the Pitt women’s soccer team as the Panthers… Freshman Ashley Cuba scored both goals for the Pitt women’s soccer team as the Panthers (2-0-0) defeated Ohio State 2-1 on Sunday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.

“We played with a lot of heart. Our mental toughness was really great today,” Pitt head coach Sue Moy-Chin said. “I just thought our girls played really well today collectively. We just kept working hard knowing that our chances would come and when they did we took advantage of it.”

Pitt goalkeeper Morie Kephart tied a career high with 12 saves in the game. She made a diving save with 32 seconds left in the game to prevent the Buckeyes (1-1-1) from tying the score.

“Morie Kephart was amazing,” Chin said. “She kept us in the game. She put us in a position to be ahead when we had a chance to finish. Our defense played really well in front of her, too.”

Cuba put Pitt in front 1-0 with her first goal in the 56th minute of the second half.

“Her first goal came off some good defensive work,” Chin said. “She created a turnover and got a one vs. one with the goalkeeper. She was really composed and dribbled around her to put it into the open net.”

Minutes later, The Buckeyes answered off a Paige Maxwell header goal. But Proxy-Connection: keep-alive

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the 79th minute, Cuba put the Panthers in the lead for good on a goal off a Laura Berbert deflection. Chin said Liz Carroll created the opportunity by attacking the ball around the outside.

Cuba, an 2009 ESPN High School All-American, is the only player that has scored for the Panthers this year. She netted her first career goal in Pitt’s season opener 1-0 victory against Buffalo last week.

Pitt had difficulty getting shots off in the first half as Ohio State led the Panthers 12-1 in shots and 7-1 in shots on goal going into the second half. Despite the difference in shot attempts, the teams entered the half in a scoreless tie.

Chin said that some of Pitt’s first-half difficulties resulted from the strong wind the Buckeyes had at their backs during the first half, which the Panthers had to battle. She also said that Pitt had difficulty possessing the ball, but she was pleased with the way her team defended several strong corner kicks from the Buckeyes.

The Panthers added eight shots and three shots on goal in the second half, while the Buckeyes produced 11 shots and two shots on goal. And as of the 72nd minute, the Panthers led Ohio State 6-5 in second-half shots and 3-1 in shots on goal.

“The second half we did a much better much better job of possessing the ball,” Chin said. “That was a little bit of the difference for us in terms of creating chances.”

Ohio State outshot the Panthers 23-9 and 8-2 on goal for the game.

Pitt’s Klarissa Ames and Katie Caslin each had a shot on goal for the Panthers, and Carroll added three shots.

With the victory, Chin was happy with her team’s performance on the road. She said that although the team could continue to improve on possession and ball handling, the positive play outweighed the negative in the win.

“We can always work on some things,” Chin said, “But the things that stood out for me more were the things that we did well, just continuing to battle hard and believing we were going to get the win.”

The Panthers next game is at Kent State on Friday at 4 p.m. Pitt doesn’t return home until they take on Big East rival West Virginia on Sept. 18.