The Pitt women’s soccer team is headed in the right direction.

“The hard work we’ve been… The Pitt women’s soccer team is headed in the right direction.

“The hard work we’ve been putting in finally paid off for us,” head coach Sue-Moy Chin said. “We’re getting better and better every day and every week and it’s a real positive thing.”

The payoff Chin mentioned came in the form of a tie and a victory in two Big East contests for the Panthers this past weekend.

On Friday, Pitt had its conference home opener – a 1-1 tie in a thrilling double overtime match. Then the team traveled to Syracuse to take on the Orange and claimed a 4-2 victory in which the Panthers dominated from start to finish.

Chin seemed to sum up the two games for the Panthers, who are now 6-2-2 overall and 1-1-1 in conference play, simply by saying, “It was a real good weekend for us.”

The Panthers look to have another good weekend when they travel to DePaul and an undefeated Notre Dame this weekend for games Friday and Sunday.

Pitt 1, St. Johns 1

The Panthers’ home conference opener was really a game of halves.

According to Chin, the first half was dominated by her squad as the Panthers dictated the tempo of the first 45 minutes of play.

Pitt scored in the 26th minute when senior Corina Sebesta gathered a pass from Jen Kritch and shot the ball into the lower left corner past the Red Storm goalkeeper.

The goal was Sebesta’s team-leading fifth of the season and was Kritch’s fourth assist, also a team high.

With a 1-0 lead heading into the second half, the Panthers worked hard to defend it.

St. Johns wouldn’t go home without a fight, though, and pushed the tempo like Pitt did in the first half.

The Red Storm’s aggressiveness finally paid off, and they managed to get the tying goal with only 10 minutes left on the game clock. St. John’s’ Susan Bryne headed a Courtney Lane free-kick from 30 yards past Pitt’s goalkeeper Alison Finch to knot the game at 1-1.

“You have to give a lot of credit to the St. Johns team for battling back,” Chin said. “They never quit and fought hard to get the equalizer.”

The two 10-minute overtime sessions were back and forth end-to-end action, but neither team could find the net to steal a victory and both settled for a tie.

Pitt 4, Syracuse 2

The hard work of the Panthers displayed on Friday seemed to carry over to their contest on Sunday.

In only the second minute of play, Meta Haley beat the Orange’s goalkeeper from 30 yards out for a 1-0 lead. The goal was Haley’s third of the season.

The fast paced scoring continued when Syracuse tied the game at 1-1 just seven minutes later on a one-timer.

The scoring calmed down until freshman forward Ashley Habbel entered the game and put the Panthers ahead for good in the 41st minute. Habbel received a pass from Janean Gardner and beat the goalie for a 2-1 lead.

That was the score at halftime, but Habbel didn’t stop there. Just 38 seconds into the second half, she scored her second goal of the game to put the Panthers up 3-1.

“Our forwards did an excellent job of finishing their [scoring] chances,” Chin said, referring to the four goals the Panthers scored on only 10 shots on goal.

The Orange scored in the 80th minute to bring the game within one, but all hopes of a comeback were shattered just three minutes later, when Pitt senior Kristina Francois scored the Panthers’ fourth goal for a score of 4-2. Francois also assisted on Habbel’s second goal, giving her four assists on the year, tying her with Kritch for the team lead.

“We had a great team effort in both games and I’m very pleased with where we are right now,” Chin said. “I’m looking forward to seeing more positive results in conference play.”