Tough D, focus gets Pitt Big East win

Pitt men’s soccer head coach Joe Luxbacher had talked about his team “playing not to lose”… Pitt men’s soccer head coach Joe Luxbacher had talked about his team “playing not to lose” whenever it took an early lead.

The Panthers listened.

Luxbacher’s squad was the first on the board once again when Big East opponent Marquette traveled to Founders Field on Sunday. In the eighth minute, senior midfielder Mike Cunha was awarded a free kick and pounded it home for his first career goal, giving Pitt the early 1-0 lead.

That score wouldn’t last a minute, though. Fifty-seven seconds later, freshman Matt Langton played a feed from teammate Matt Baker and sliced it past Marquette goalkeeper Matt Pyzdrowski for the first of his career as well.

Pitt found itself up two goals with just more than 80 minutes to play – a time span in which a young Marquette team could have clawed its way back, had the Panthers let them.

They didn’t.

“We tend to change how we play [when we have the lead],” Luxbacher said after Pitt defeated the Golden Eagles 3-0. “We’re afraid to give up a time goal, so we tend to play differently. We have to play safe, but not afraid.”

Pitt (4-6-2, 3-2-1 Big East) showed no fear even after it had the early two-goal lead. With a little less than two minutes left in the first half, forward Chris Basitads found freshman Orane Gordan in front of the Marquette goal. Gordan redirected his teammate’s assist to the back of the net and completed the eventual final score.

“I think this was our first game with more than one goal,” Luxbacher said. “We got some great chances and [Pitt’s first goal] was a great goal to get us going. We needed this.”

The win stopped Pitt’s two-game losing streak in which it lost at Notre Dame and at home to Robert Morris last week. The Panthers had gone undefeated in their previous four contests.

Aside from the quick scoring, the Pitt defense, led by senior goalkeeper Andy “Tex” Jorgensen’s fourth shutout of the season, kept a struggling Marquette offense in check. Jorgensen only needed to save two of Marquette’s four shots on the day.

Although Pitt scored the most goals of any game in the 12-game season, the Panther offense ran into some adversity throughout the second half. The game became increasingly more physical, and both Langton and senior Keeyan Young drew yellow cards.

The Marquette bench was booked as well. Showing frustration from the game’s physicality, every Golden Eagle coach was pinned to the team’s bench after head coach Louis Bennett errantly booted a ball from the sideline which connected with the line judge’s shin.

Some of the tension shone through on the field, but Luxbacher repeatedly appealed to his players to remain focused on the game.

“When that’s going on, it’s tough to stay focused on the game,” Luxbacher said. “But you just tell [the players] to keep playing and focus on the game.”

Pitt kept its cool and held on for the win – something that could be a lot tougher to do when the Panthers travel to Morgantown, W. Va., tomorrow to take on the No. 4 ranked West Virginia Mountaineers.

“West Virginia just beat Connecticut 3-0, and Connecticut’s a top-15 team,” Luxbacher said. “We have to figure out a way to get points down there.”