Men’s soccer pitches shutout, ties Vikings

Pitt goalie Andy Jorgensen walked away with a shutout game Wednesday night. But so did the… Pitt goalie Andy Jorgensen walked away with a shutout game Wednesday night. But so did the other goalie.

“I was proud of the play, not happy with the tie, but we dominated play the whole time,” Pitt head coach Joe Luxbacher said. “All of our players did well, most of them had a good game, but we just could not get a goal.”

The Pitt men’s soccer team hosted Cleveland State in its season home opener on Wednesday night at Founders Field. It ended in a 0-0 tie in double overtime.

Pitt (0-2-1, 0-0 Big East) outshot the Vikings during the match, 15-8, with six shots on goal to Cleveland State’s three. The Panthers controlled play throughout most of the 110-minute game, but failed to score during many close opportunities.

“Cleveland State is a good team,” Luxbacher said. “They came into the match 2-0 for the season and had a win over Robert Morris University, who is a really good team.”

Cleveland State (2-0-1) came close to scoring around the 62nd minute when Viking midfielder Mitch Boyer shot over the top of the net, but Jorgensen dove and tipped it away for one of three saves during his shutout game.

After the game, Luxbacher reflected on the play of his keeper, but still felt something was missing.

“Jorgensen is a solid player in goal, he is very sure of himself,” Luxbacher said. “During the game they had a free kick and he nipped the ball to save it – that was a good save.”

“We have two good goalies,” Luxbacher said of Jorgensen and sophomore Jordan Marks, who did not play. “We are looking for consistency out of them.”

Quickly after Jorgensen’s save, Panther midfielder Brendon Smith missed a close shot when his header went to the left of the goal post.

Also making a close attempt was Pitt freshman Matthew Baker, who narrowly missed a shot that deflected off the right goal post as he took advantage of a Viking mistake around the 85th minute.

Cleveland State goalie Dan Duric stopped six Pitt shots.

Afterward, Luxbacher liked what he saw from his team, but made mention that it still isn’t enough.

“There was a good, solid 90 minutes of play,” Luxbacher said. “Overall we did well, like at the match in WVU. We had flashes of good stretches, good chances, but no scoring. We didn’t finish chances, just didn’t follow through on good shots.”

The tie snaps the Panthers’ two-game losing streak in which they dropped their first two matches of the year to Buffalo and Fairfield last weekend.

“Our goal right now is consistency. We have solid effort; we need consistency. The first two games were inconsistent.”

The Panthers will travel next to Emmitsburg, Md., on Sun., Sept. 3 to face Mount St. Mary at 3 p.m.