Pitt ties Villanova, topped by Hoyas

Pitt women’s soccer completed its regular season road schedule over the weekend with a… Pitt women’s soccer completed its regular season road schedule over the weekend with a scoreless tie with Villanova and a 4-2 loss at Georgetown.

Pitt (6-9-1, 1-7-1 Big East) managed one point on the weekend.

After being benched for Morie Kephart against Connecticut and Providence two weeks ago, Pitt goalkeeper Alison Finch returned to her position for the Panthers Friday against Villanova.

Finch played all 110 minutes in the double overtime shutout.

But when Finch struggled early against Georgetown Sunday, Pitt head coach Sue-Moy Chin pulled Finch and went back to Kephart.

“Alison played great on Friday,” Chin said.

“On Sunday, she had a rough start and we decided to put in Morie.”

Chin hasn’t made a decision on who will be in goal Friday when the Panthers host Marquette at Founders Field.

“It will depend on their week of training who starts,” Chin said.

Pitt 0, Villanova 0

A 0-0 final may have insinuated that the torrential downpours prior to the game caused a cancellation, but Pitt and Villanova actually played an even soccer match Friday night.

“I thought we played really well against Villanova, it was a complete team effort,” Chin said.

“Villanova had the better of the play attacking-wise in the first half and in the second half I felt we had the better of the play.”

Villanova missed an opportunity early after Nikki Mabery knocked a shot off the crossbar and a follow-up attempt sailed over the goal.

Just minutes later, Villanova had another multiple-shot opportunity after a corner kick produced a scramble in the box, but once again Villanova couldn’t capitalize.

Despite being outshot 13-2 in the first half, Pitt held the game scoreless for the first 45 minutes.

The Panthers had better opportunities in the second half of play.

In the 69th minute, Laura Berbert took a corner kick and the Panthers had several chances to strike first.

Pitt forward Stephanie Davis had her attempt turned away by midfielder Stacia Hartung.

With play continuing, Pitt’s Rachel Vecchio fired a rebound that Villanova keeper Jillian Loyden saved.

Villanova added to its shot total in the second half and finished regulation with a 30-7 shot advantage over Pitt.

The shot discrepancy wasn’t indicative of the action.

For the game, Pitt had four shots on goal compared to six for Villanova.

“They had a lot of shots go over the goal and wide, they were taking some long-range shots,” Chin said.

“Defensively we did a really good job keeping them in front of us and forcing them to take some longer shots.”

All the shots couldn’t produce a goal, and after two overtimes the game was still scoreless and ended in a tie.

“We had some chances, they had some chances. It was a physical game. I thought we did really well,” Chin said.

“We wanted to get the win out of it, but we were happy to get a point and tie a very good team.”

Georgetown 4, Pitt 2

Pitt got off to a slow start and wasn’t able to recover when it traveled to Washington, D.C. to take on Georgetown.

“We started out really slow whether or not we were tired mentally or physically from Friday or not, we didn’t start out very well,” Chin said.

Georgetown scored the first three goals of the game and Georgetown’s Ingrid Wells was involved in each.

Wells assisted on two goals in the first 10 minutes of the game, then scored the eventual game-winner on a penalty kick in the 26th minute.

“It’s disappointing to give up a couple goals early. It’s really hard to fight back,” Chin said, “but give our girls some credit.

“They were able to bring it within two in the first half and then bring it within a goal in the second half.”

Pitt’s first goal came in the 30th minute when Liz Carroll beat Georgetown goalie Jade Higgins just inside the post to pull the Panthers within two at 3-1.

Pitt would again cut into the lead after midfielder Jennifer Kritch finished a nice pass from Carroll in the 63rd minute.

The goal was Kritch’s fourth of the season.

Georgetown thwarted Pitt’s run to erase the early deficit when Georgetown forward Daryn Towle beat Morie Kephart to the far-left corner of the goal.

“I thought we played a lot better in the second half. The effort was a lot better, it just fell a little short,” Chin said.

“We had some opportunities that we didn’t finish on, but it’s tough to come back from a three-goal deficit.”

The Panthers will finish the regular season next weekend when they host Marquette on Friday and South Florida on Sunday.