Women tie Hoyas, lose to Wildcats

Pitt women’s soccer spent its weekend at home, tying the Georgetown Hoyas Friday, 1-1,… Pitt women’s soccer spent its weekend at home, tying the Georgetown Hoyas Friday, 1-1, before losing 2-0 to the Villanova Wildcats Sunday. The Panthers finished the weekend with a 7-6-3 record overall and a 2-5-2 record in the Big East.

It took two overtimes and 15 shots combined to decide Friday’s match, but the game ended in a tie.

“I am disappointed we did not get the win,” Pitt head coach Sue-Moy Chin said. “But I was proud of our effort.”

Villanova arrived in Pittsburgh as the No. 23-ranked team in the nation. The victory gave Villanova its sixth straight win against the Panthers.

“We knew it’d be tough [against Villanova],” Chin said. “But we controlled possession and had our chances, it just didn’t go our way.”

Pitt finishes out its season with a pair of home matches against Providence Friday at 7 p.m., and Connecticut Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Panthers’ 2006 campaign has hit a difficult stretch, as they have now played five straight games without winning. In that span, opponents have outscored Pitt 12-3.

Pitt ranks sixth in the Big East’s American Division, just one point clear of seventh-place Syracuse and one point behind fifth-place South Florida. The top five teams in each division of the Big East make the conference tournament.

“We just need to go back to what got us here — finishing and playing with possession,” Chin said. “We have a chance to win both games and we just need to focus on us, staying competitive and keeping our mental toughness.”

The Big East tournament begins Oct. 26.

Pitt 1, Georgetown 1 2OT

The Panthers and Hoyas scored within two minutes of one another Friday, as 110 minutes of soccer couldn’t decide the match.

“We played well [Friday],” Chin said. “We were able to create a lot of chances.”

Pitt opened scoring in the 29th minute when freshman Ashley Habbel finished a loose ball in front of Georgetown’s goal. It was Habbel’s fifth goal of the season, which ties her for a team high.

“Ashley has been very good for us all year,” Chin said. “It’s tough as a freshman to come in and produce right away, but she’s starting to settle down after a tough stretch and really provide a spark for us either starting or off the bench.”

Georgetown, 4-7-5 overall and 1-5-2 in the Big East, equalized in the 31st minute when its senior midfielder Chrissy Skogen connected on a free kick, slotting the ball in the upper corner.

“To give up a goal so quickly after scoring was disappointing,” Chin said. “But we definitely had chances to make up for it.

“We took back control of the game but couldn’t quite capitalize on our opportunities.”

Pitt ripped 11 shots on goal Friday, forcing Georgetown junior goalkeeper Jade Higgins to parry six Panther opportunities. The Panthers earned five corner kicks to Georgetown’s four.

“We just need to stay focused,” Chin said. “The goals will come if we stay on task and play our game.”

The two overtimes stayed calm until the waning moments of the match, when freshman Katie Caslin skimmed the crossbar with seven seconds left.

“The play was really exciting but disappointing,” Chin said. “Katie’s getting a lot better each game. But it definitely was really tough to tie a game we should have won.”

Villanova 2, Pitt 0

The Wildcats and Panthers remained deadlocked 0-0 at halftime. But it only took Villanova 23 seconds in the second half to take the lead when freshman Jessica Carnevale rippled the Panther net.

“I was pleased with our play in the first half,” Chin said. “We had a couple of chances to score and didn’t finish. I was disappointed we had a mental lapse early in the second half. After Villanova got the first goal it really changed the tempo of the game.”

Carnevale latched on to a through-ball from sophomore Kristen Verbit and snuck her finish by Finch. It was Carnevale’s first of two goals Sunday, and the first goal of her career.

Carnevale and Verbit came off the bench for the Wildcats in an effort to spruce things up offensively by Villanova head coach Ann Clifton.

“It is a sign of a great team when you can go to your bench and get production in a game,” Clifton said. “We did that after a slow start [Sunday] and were very pleased with the results.”

Carnevale tallied her second goal when junior defender Kayce Blandford crossed a ball in front the right flank to Carnevale’s feet, and the forward scored from nearly the same spot as her first goal. The goal gave Villanova the 2-0 lead.

“We played them really tough,” Chin said. “We hit the crossbar once and the goalkeeper made a great save on a deflected shot, so we definitely had our opportunities.”

It was Villanova’s 14th shutout in its 17 games so far this season. The Wildcats have allowed just two goals this season while they are just one win away from tying the program record for wins in a season.

The shutout was only the second one suffered by the Panthers all season.

“It was good to see we could stick with a tough team like that, but we weren’t looking for a moral victory,” Chin said. “We just had that tough lapse at the start of the second half and Villanova is a tough team to score against, so it was just frustrating with our chances.

“But we will be ready to play against Providence and focused on winning.”