Men’s soccer falls just short again, still winless

On Sunday, the Pitt men’s soccer team had a near-miss while conceding just one goal,… On Sunday, the Pitt men’s soccer team had a near-miss while conceding just one goal, dropping a heartbreaking 1-0 decision against the Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers, extending its winless streak to four matches to start the season.

“It was a step back and disappointing,” Pitt head coach Joe Luxbacher said. “To be honest, we just didn’t play well. We didn’t play to our ability.”

The loss drops Pitt’s overall record to 0-3-1 as it enters Big East conference play. The Panthers host Louisville on Sept. 8 and Cincinnati on Sept. 10 at Founders Field.

“Louisville will be tough, but that’s just how the Big East is,” Luxbacher said. “We will be ready to play them. And we have Cincinnati on Sunday, which won’t be any easier. But we will be ready.”

The Mountaineers were ready first in this match. In the 21st minute, a corner kick met the head of Mount St. Mary’s defender Brandon Moncrief, who tucked the decisive blow into the side-netting.

“Corner kicks have been a big problem for us so far,” Luxbacher said. “We just have to keep practicing and preparing for them.”

The goal came moments after Pitt nearly started the scoring when freshman midfielder Matt Baker fancied a strike. Mount St. Mary’s goalkeeper Mark Murphy stoned the attempt, the first of his three major saves in the contest.

Junior defensive midfielder Brendon Smith took a shot just after halftime, but his effort to tie the match was denied by Murphy.

Just more than 30 minutes later, sophomore midfielder Matt Firster offered Pitt’s last chance to lock up the score, but Murphy preserved the clean sheet.

“Our players are getting frustrated,” Luxbacher said. “We’re getting chances to score but we just aren’t finishing. We missed a chance two feet in front of an open net [Sunday].

“With that, you get players putting more pressure on themselves and that makes it even harder.”

Mount St. Mary’s dominated the box score, mustering 13 shots, seven of which honed in on goal. Pitt goalkeeper Andy Jorgensen parried five of them. The Mountaineers also won 11 corner kicks while the Panthers only managed three.

Pitt took six total shots in the match, honing just three in on goal. The Panthers have scored just two goals in their first four matches while they’ve conceded five, leaving questions about their attacking.

“We need goals,” Luxbacher said. “We might need some personnel changes to generate some scoring. But finishing is still the main issue.”

While Pitt clattered its way to 21 fouls in the contest, the only booking came in the 55th minute, when Mount St. Mary’s defender Steve Dellamore received a yellow card. The card was one of the Mountaineers’ 11 fouls.

“Well, we were playing on a wet field because of the weather,” Luxbacher said. “But we were chasing the ball. The field was heavy but they were just moving faster.”