Women’s soccer holds home turf after road loss

A short memory served the Pitt women’s soccer team well this weekend.

Despite losing a 4-1… A short memory served the Pitt women’s soccer team well this weekend.

Despite losing a 4-1 contest to West Virginia on Friday evening, the Panthers (5-2-1, 0-1 Big East) were able to bounce back on Saturday to defeat Kent State, 1-0.

Pitt will be looking for its first conference victory this Friday at Founders Field against St. John’s.

West Virginia 4, Pitt 1

A gloomy, overcast day was a sign of things to come as the Panthers opened Big East play last Friday against the seventh-ranked Mountaineers. Despite a strong start by Pitt, West Virginia stifled the Panthers for most of the game to remain undefeated.

“West Virginia is definitely ranked seventh in the country for good reason,” Pitt head coach Sue-Moy Chin said. “They played well for 90 minutes and that was the difference. We played well for about 65 or 70 minutes, and they took advantage of the times when we lapsed.”

Pitt scored the first goal of the match on a free kick in the 14th minute of play.

Senior Katie Surma passed the ball in to Jennifer Kritch. Kritch then led teammate Meta Haley with a through ball at the top of the penalty box and Haley buried it in the back of the net for the 1-0 lead. The goal was Haley’s second of the season.

The Mountaineers responded five minutes later when Big East offensive player of the week Deanna Everett received Kim Bonilla’s pass at the top of the box and snuck the ball past Pitt goalkeeper Alison Finch.

A few minutes later, Everett assisted teammate Ashley Banks with the Mountaineers’ second score to give West Virginia a 2-1 advantage.

Banks wasn’t done, however.

The junior all-Big East selection added an assist of her own and another goal during the second half to put the Panthers away.

One of Pitt’s few bright spots was its goalkeeping. Despite allowing four scores, Finch recorded nine saves for the match.

“She did really well and she’s getting better and better with every game,” Chin said. “We’re really excited that she’s improving every day.”

Pitt 1, Kent State 0

On Saturday, Pitt extended its undefeated streak at Founders Field to four games after a grueling 1-0 victory over Kent State.

The Panthers once again took advantage of a penalty to score the game’s only goal.

Senior Carli Brill headed Corina Sebesta’s free kick in to the corner of the net to give the Panthers the 1-0 advantage.

Pitt maintained offensive pressure throughout the match, out-shooting Kent State 16-3, while its stingy defense and flawless goaltending kept the Flashes scoreless.

“We got the result we wanted today, we got the win,” Chin told PittsburghPanthers.com. “We could have finished some more of our chances, but we bounced back after a hard battle on Friday. Kent State never stopped fighting.

“Friday we move into the Big East portion of our schedule and we are excited for that. There is very good competition in the conference, and it should be a challenge.”