Men’s soccer drops two while hosting invitational

Hosting the Pitt Invitational Tournament over the weekend, the Pitt men’s soccer team… Hosting the Pitt Invitational Tournament over the weekend, the Pitt men’s soccer team dropped a pair of heartbreaking matches and is left still searching for its first victory of the young season.

Friday’s defeat was especially tough. The Panthers fell in double-overtime to Wright State, 2-1, after taking an early lead.

Much of the same followed on Sunday against undefeated Binghamton because Pitt couldn’t come back from a 1-0 deficit, which ended up being the final score.

Pitt (0-4-1) finished the weekend tournament at the bottom behind tournament champion Binghamton, Wright State and Robert Morris.

“Give the guys credit, the effort was there no question,” Pitt coach Joe Luxbacher said. “All the games were very close, games we could have won. We played pretty well, it was a tough weekend.”

Two Pitt players won accolades for their play over the weekend. Midfielders Matt Baker and Matt Langton were named to the All-Tournament team at the conclusion of the final match.

The next match for the Panthers will be their final tuneup before the Big East season begins. Pitt meets St. Joseph’s Sept. 17 at Founders Field in Indianola, Pa.

Wright State 2, Pitt 1

Things looked bright from the onset of Friday’s match as the Panthers scored an early goal to grab the advantage.

On a free kick, Shawn Wildman found freshman Andy Kalas, who headed the ball into the net for the first goal of his career.

After Pitt’s 17th-minute goal, the Panthers held the lead for the rest of the first half and much of the second. However, Wright State midfielder Milovan Milosevic executed a nice steal and finished for the equalizer in the 68th minute.

No goals materialized on either side throughout the rest of regulation and the first overtime. Just when it looked as though Pitt would salvage a draw, Wright State’s Tony Labudovski snuck a header past goalie Jordan Marks in the 118th minute to clinch the victory.

The game was not short on action in the least, with each squad registering double-digit shot totals. The goalies in particular shined. Marks finished with seven saves on the day, but was overshadowed by the Raiders’ Tebias Mason, who stopped nine.

“We played pretty well, we had good chances,” Luxbacher said.

The double-overtime match was undoubtedly draining, but the Panther offense looked to rebound against Binghamton Sunday.

Binghamton 1, Pitt 0

That offense never got back on track however, and an early miscue by the defense was enough to seal the Panthers’ fate.

A defender kicked the ball right to Binghamton’s Justin Leskow, who easily found Darren McAllister for the finish out of Marks’ reach. The 13th minute error halted any momentum Pitt attempted to gain.

The Panthers never gave up, hustling and battling every step of the way until the final whistle sounded. The offensive struggles continued, though, as the team mustered only three shots on goal. After the initial goal, Pitt may have even outplayed Binghamton, but the tying goal never came.

“No question on the effort, we just can’t make mistakes defensively and convert on our opportunities,” Luxbacher stated. “Defensively, we tightened up this weekend, which we needed to do. We had the better scoring chances, but we couldn’t convert.”