Many coaches stress the importance of starting a season off on the right foot. Yet, heading… Many coaches stress the importance of starting a season off on the right foot. Yet, heading into last Sunday’s home game against Cincinnati, the Panther men’s soccer team had done anything but that en route to a 0-4-1 record.

“Our problem has been that we are just not scoring goals. You need to be able to score more than one goal to consistently win games,” head coach Joe Luxbacher said.

Since the dismal start, however, the Panthers have rebounded and currently own a three-game unbeaten streak. Pitt headed into the weekend with another opportunity to gain important ground in the Big East with games against conference opponents DePaul and South Florida. It did.

When asked to explain the team’s recent turnaround, coach Luxbacher replied, “There is not a lot of difference between winning and losing in this league, because everyone is good. We lost two or three games early and played well in them, but had a few lapses which killed us. The difference between then and now is that we are now starting to make some plays.”

The Panthers’ next match will bring them home Wednesday, Sept. 20, to take on non-conference opponent Xavier at Founders Field.

Pitt 1 – DePaul 0

The Panthers traveled to Rosemont, Ill., on Friday to take on the Blue Devils who, like Pitt, also struggled early. The exciting contest between the two evenly-matched teams would not be decided, however, until the final seconds.

With the clock winding down, freshman Matt Baker took a final corner kick for the Panthers. Fellow freshman Orane Gordon then fielded Baker’s kick and quickly passed the ball up to senior Keeyan Young, who drilled it into the net from 12 yards out with one second remaining. The Panthers’ 1-0 “buzzer-beater” win improved their record to 2-4-1 overall and was their second-straight conference win.

Young’s dramatic goal was his first of the season but the 22nd of his career, moving him into a three-way tie for sixth place on the Panthers’ all-time goals list. Although the score was only 1-0, there were 19 shots recorded in the contest, with Pitt leading that statistic 10-9.

Pitt goalie Andy Jorgensen finished the day with just two saves, but had to make numerous big plays to record his first shutout of the season. DePaul had a terrific scoring opportunity in the 10th minute when midfielder Joe Sondag’s header was knocked away by Jorgensen, who made a diving save in the process. Sondag struck again late in the game with a shot from the top of the box, but was again denied.

Pitt 1 – South Florida 1 (2 OT)

The Panthers then traveled to the Sunshine State to test their newfound confidence against the defending Big East red division champion South Florida Bulls, who entered the contest undefeated in conference play. Pitt’s improvement was on display at USF Soccer Stadium on Sunday, as the determined Panthers held on to secure a 1-1 tie in a double-overtime game.

The resurgent Panthers were the first to score, when Matt Baker snuck his way behind the USF defense on a quick counterattack and received a pass from teammate Mike Cunha. Baker then booted the ball past Bulls goalie Dane Brenner to put the Panthers up 1-0. The freshman Baker, who assisted on Young’s goal in Pitt’s win over DePaul, led the team on offense with three shots. Baker’s performance marked a very productive weekend for the young Panthers.

“We have been getting some good minutes from our underclassmen,” Luxbacher said. “Matt [Baker]’s a solid player, Mike McDade was responsible for setting up the scoring opportunity on Friday and Orane [Gordon] is really starting to settle in after making the transition from playing in Jamaica. We still, however, rely on the leadership of our upperclassmen.”

Midway through the second period, Bulls midfielder Sammy Castellanos was awarded a controversial penalty kick and converted the goal to tie the game at 1-1. Despite giving up the penalty kick, the player of the game had to be Pitt goalie Andy Jorgensen, who withstood an offensive onslaught by USF and earned 15 saves for the day. Coming into Sunday’s game, Jorgensen had stopped a total of 10 shots on goal for the season. The Bulls out-shot the Panthers 35-7 in the game.

With the score still tied, Pitt and USF continued to battle through two periods of overtime without either team scoring. As is often the case when two competitive teams face off, emotions ran high. As a result, six different players, three on each team, were cautioned with yellow cards. The match would eventually end in a 1-1 tie.

“We aren’t necessarily happy with a tie, but considering the conditions, we still managed to pick up a point against the team picked to win it all,” Luxbacher said. “Our team put forth a solid effort this weekend and picked up four points against two very good teams – all in all, not bad.”