Pitt ends one streak, continues another

It seems the Panther women’s soccer team has been stranded in the desert since Sept. 1,… It seems the Panther women’s soccer team has been stranded in the desert since Sept. 1, searching for a win. This past weekend, Pitt was given a Garden State, dropping a pair to Seton Hall and Rutgers at Founders Field. The Panthers’ record now stands at 2-7-2 overall, and 1-3-1 in Big East play.

Seton Hall 2, Pitt 0

Carli Brill ignited the Panther offense in the first half, with a striking shot and several passes, but all to no avail. Pitt had another chance when a give-and-go between Janean Gardener and Jennifer DeLaHoz ended with DeLaHoz firing above the goal. Gardener had a chance of her own in the second half, but her shot found its way into the hands of Pirate goalie Amanda Becker.

Brill took a shot in the face when she made a defensive stop in the second half. Fortunately for Pitt; Jamie Pelusi garnered the rebound to prevent a Pirate score.

Pitt wasn’t so fortunate, though, when Katie Herr scored an unassisted goal in the 64th minute, as a confused Panther defense congregated in front of the net. Five minutes later, the Pirates got an insurance goal when Katherine DeTata snuck a grounder past Pelusi.

Gardener got one more opportunity to end the Panthers’ scoring drought in the 87th minute, but the shot clanked off the post.

Kerr and Mary Ronau led the Pirates (6-4-2 overall, 2-3-0 Big East) with two shots, both on goal. Seton Hall had 10 of the shots in the game, compared to the Panthers’ four. Pelusi’s eight saves weren’t enough for a struggling Panther team on this night.

Following Friday’s loss, Pitt coach Sue Moy Chin asked for basics from her team.

“It really comes down to not putting away our chances,” Chin said. “We need to find a way to score goals.”

Rutgers 6, Pitt 2

The Panthers finally entered the land of goals with two of them on Sunday, on only five shots. The problem is they allowed six Rutgers goals on 15 shots, 11 in the second half, as the Scarlet Knights picked up their first Big East win.

The scoring drought finally ended when Corina Sebesta headed Carli Brill’s cross into the net with two minutes left in the first half. It answered Kim Mineo’s unassisted score for Rutgers seven minutes earlier.

Pitt began the second half with two defensive stops in the first 13 minutes, including one by Brill, but the Knights’ offensive onslaught was too much for the Panthers.

It began when Nina Montero scored off a corner in the 59th minute, and the floodgates were opened a minute later on Domenique Esposito’s goal in the back of Pitt’s net.

In the 71st minute, Amanda Allessio caught a loose ball in front of the net, turned and fired a shot past Pelusi It got worse when a Panther foul inside the penalty box gave Rutgers a penalty kick. Zoe Avner capitalized, putting the game into another stratosphere at 5-1.

Still, Pitt fought and got a goal to show for it from Erin McFarling. With two minutes left McFarling scored a goal, assisted by both Brill and Erin Hills. Rutgers (4-7-1, 1-4-1), however, got the last goal with Courtney Roarty’s score with 42 seconds left.

Pelusi had eight saves for the second time on the weekend, but the four goals she allowed got her replaced by Lailah Isaac in the 74th minute. Esposito took four shots for the Scarlet Knights and Allessio fired three shots on goal. Rutgers goalies Nora Crawford and Dana Geiser combined for only three saves, but that was because Pitt only took five shots on goal.

Coach Chin did not provide quotes to the media after Sunday’s game. The Panthers return to Founders Field against South Florida this Friday at 7 p.m.