Women’s soccer frozen in brittle New England

It was a rough trip to the Northeast for the Pitt women’s soccer team, which dropped games… It was a rough trip to the Northeast for the Pitt women’s soccer team, which dropped games to both No. 17 UConn and Providence over the weekend.

The Panthers (6-8-0, 1-6-0 Big East) have now lost five straight conference games.

With the Panthers struggling, head coach Sue-Moy Chin decided to make a change in net. She opted to go with Morie Kephart over Alison Finch in both games. Finch had previously started all 12 games between the posts for Pitt.

“We just were trying to make a change to give another player a chance,” Chin said regarding her decision. “[Kephart] had been playing pretty well.”

No matter how well Kephart could have played last weekend, the Panthers still struggled. Collectively, the Panthers were outshot 23-10 in their two matches. Only one of those 10 shots was on goal, and the only score slated by Pitt came on a penalty kick.

The Panthers had been looking to rebound from two distressing overtime losses against Louisville and Cincinnati last weekend but were unable to return home with a victory.

“We’re obviously disappointed we didn’t come away with at least one win this weekend,” head coach Sue-Moy Chin said. “And overall we’re just disappointed we didn’t come away with three points.”

UConn 4, Pitt 0

The Panthers had a tough time adjusting to the cold and windy conditions Saturday in Storrs, Conn.

They had an even tougher time handling the No. 17 Huskies.

Elizabeth Eng had a huge day off the bench for UConn. Eng got the scoring started in the 31st minute when midfielder Kacey Richards sent a shot on goal that was saved but not secured by Kephart. Eng buried the rebound for her first of three goals on the day.

Richards would find Eng again in the 42nd minute. This time the assist was clean as Richards sent a centering pass to the middle of the box and Eng beat Kephart to the right side of the net.

The Huskies went into halftime with a 2-0 lead after out-shooting the Panthers 7-2 in the first 45 minutes of play.

Just five minutes into the second half, freshman Meghan Cunningham’s first career goal gave the Huskies a 3-0 lead. Eng, who struck first, would also get the pleasure of capping the scoring.

In the 66th minute, Eng lofted a left-footed shot from outside the 18 box that snuck its way over Kephart, giving Eng the hat trick and giving the Huskies a 4-0 victory.

UConn goalie Stephanie Labbe posted the shutout for the Huskies without being called upon to make a save – none of the Panthers’ five shots were on target.

What seemed to be a one-sided contest was a close match for a third of the game, according to Chin.

“UConn’s a very good team. I thought we played really well with them for probably the first 30 minutes of the game,” Chin added.

Providence 2, Pitt 1

The Panthers dropped their second consecutive game in New England with a 2-1 loss to Providence Sunday afternoon. With the victory Providence (3-10-1, 2-5-0) moved past Pitt in the Big East standings.

The Panthers’ first goal of the road trip came early on against the Friars. In the ninth minute of the game Rachel Vecchio set up the score. Vecchio penetrated the box and was fouled on her run towards the net, drawing a whistle and, as a result, a penalty kick that Ashley Habbel would convert.

But Providence would knock in a goal in the 44th minute, and that would be all from the Friars.

Because with the score tied at 1-1 in the 74th minute, the Panthers did themselves in with an own-goal that finalized the scoring at 2-1.

Chin felt the Panthers let one get away.

“We thought the Providence game was very winnable game for us,” Chin added.

“I felt we were a better team on that day than they were, but they capitalized on some of our own mistakes. We pretty much beat ourselves.”