Soccer season ends in tourney shutout

The Pitt women’s soccer team ended its season last Thursday, losing 3-0 to Rutgers in the… The Pitt women’s soccer team ended its season last Thursday, losing 3-0 to Rutgers in the first round of the Big East Tournament. Despite the early exit, Pitt’s appearance in the playoffs was an accomplishment in itself. The last time the Panthers reached post-season play was in 1998. Pitt ends its season with a record of 4-11-3 overall and 3-6-2 in the Big East.

“We have continued to improve every year since I have been here, even though it didn’t show in the win-loss column,” head coach Sue-Moy Chin said. “By making the playoffs, we accomplished a pre-season goal of ours and made a step in the right direction for our program.”

In their playoff game against the Scarlet Knights, the Panthers lacked an offensive attack, a shortcoming that has plagued them all season. The Scarlet Knights got on the board in the 21st minute of play on a goal from Amanda Allessio. Kristen Edmonds and Leia Rispoli scored goals of their own later in the game.

Pitt’s best chance to score came in the 68th minute of the game. Jennifer Kritch hit Kristina Francois with a nifty pass that Francois one-timed toward the net. Rutgers’ goalkeeper, Nora Crawford, came up with the big save and denied Francois of the goal.

“We felt good coming into this game,” Chin said on PittsburghPanthers.com. “We were focused and they came out and played hard. Rutgers was able to finish on their chances, though, and that was the difference.”

The 2005 season was one of progress for the women’s soccer team, but also one of missed opportunities. The team lost many close games because of their inability to finish on scoring chances. The offense created numerous scoring opportunities, but could not convert those into goals. The offensive deficiency is one area the Panthers must address if they are to continue to improve.

“We lost too many games we shouldn’t have because of our lack of attack,” Chin said. “We had many good opportunities but were unable to score goals, and that hurt us all season.”

“I’m overall very pleased with how our girls played this season,” she added. “We started out slow, but fought hard.”

She was very impressed by her team’s resiliency.

“To their credit, the girls maintained their focus even when things weren’t going well, especially in that seven game goal-less drought. It could have been easier to just give up on the season, but they continued to work and play hard.”

What the team lacked on offense however, they made up for with defensive efforts that kept the games close. Though their coach would not name any particular star in the backfield, she attested to the performance of her defense.

“It’s tough to say who exactly were our ‘all-stars’ because it really depended on the game, but our back four and Jamie did an amazing job all season long keeping us in games.”

While they were on the losing end of most close games, the Panthers did manage to steal a major victory in a particularly close contest on Sept. 1 against Big East rival West Virginia. The 2-1 victory was their most impressive of the 2005 campaign, not only because it was against Pitt’s backyard rival, but also because the Mountaineers were a highly ranked team.

“That was our biggest win of the season because it proved that we can play at that high level,” Chin said. “The key is doing it on a consistent basis.”

With the season now complete, Coach Chin must focus her efforts on next season and recruiting quality players. Chin has to replace 10 graduating seniors, seven of whom were starters. But she doesn’t see that as a major hurdle..

“I feel really good about our returning players, especially the current junior class because of their talent and leadership abilities.”

While she aims to fill every position during her recruiting, Chin will likely be in search of potential goal scorers who can help heal the ailing offense.