Pitt women fall in Backyard Brawl

Failure to capitalize on offensive breaks resulted in two losses for the Pitt women’s soccer… Failure to capitalize on offensive breaks resulted in two losses for the Pitt women’s soccer team over the weekend. The Panthers dropped to 3-6-0 after losing their conference opener to rival West Virginia, 4-0, and their nonconference final against Toledo, 2-1. Going into both games the team expected a challenge, but they also anticipated bringing home at least one win. ‘We knew that we wouldn’t be able to go in and have an easy game, especially against WVU, our biggest rival,’ said Pitt sophomore Kat Weiler. ‘After losing to WVU, we really had more of an urge to win the Toledo game.” ‘ ‘ WVU 4, Pitt 0 West Virginia got to work early. In the eighth minute, freshman Erica Henderson put the Mountaineers up after taking a nice pass from junior Carolyn Bank. The Panthers responded by firing a shot on goal, which proved to be the only one in the first period. ‘After the first goal, we responded well,’ said Pitt coach Sue-Moy Chin. ‘We went down and had a good shot of our own.’ Pitt slowly began to lose control of the game when Henderson received a cross from Lisa DuCote to score her second goal. ‘When we gave up the second goal, we were kind of shocked,’ said Chin. After another goal in the 41st minute, the Mountaineers led, 3-0. West Virginia out-shot Pitt 11-1 in the first half. Pitt’s Laura Berbert and Jennifer Kritch managed to take two shots on goal in the second half for Pitt but couldn’t put any goals together. ‘We responded much better in the second half by creating opportunities. We just couldn’t finish,’ said Chin. Mountaineer Deanna Everrett scored the final goal of the night in the 56th minute to seal the 4-0 shutout. ‘We made a mistake that cost us a couple of goals in the West Virginia game, but we never gave up,’ said Weiler. Toledo 2, Pitt 1 Heading into the Toledo game, Chin said she expected the team to do a better job of finishing and playing with quickness and confidence. Unfortunately, Pitt’s closing goal wasn’t enough to defeat Toledo in the 2-1 loss on Sunday afternoon. The Rockets got out to a fiery start with three strong shots and one goal at 4:02. Toledo’s Brittany Hensler discharged the first Rocket goal. Despite close attempts by Katelyn Ruhe and Katie Caslin, the game remained 1-0 at the half. Within the first eight minutes of the second half, Pitt launched six shots on the goal, but all without success. Molly Cornwell increased Toledo’s lead to 2-0 with a goal in the 56th minute. Once again, Pitt refused to give up, and with less than three minutes remaining, Kat Weiler dribbled through the Rocket’s defense to score the first collegiate goal of her career. Weiler’s goal was the last of the game, and Pitt fell for good. Even with the losses, Weiler said the team is seeing improvement with each game, and they are hoping to start winning soon. ‘Despite the losses, I think we’re getting better each game,’ remarked Weiler. Pitt will face Syracuse on Thursday night.