Soccer shut out at Canisius

The offensive struggles of the men’s soccer team could not have been more evident than in… The offensive struggles of the men’s soccer team could not have been more evident than in their Wednesday night 1-0 loss to Canisius in Buffalo, N.Y. Pitt physically dominated every aspect of the game, from the number of shots to possession time, but once again turned up a goose-egg in the goals-scored category.

“This game was very disappointing,” head coach Joe Luxbacher said. “Any time you outplay the other team and only give up one goal, you should at the very least play to a draw. We keep shooting ourselves in the foot time and time again.”

Despite being outshot 17-13, Canisius scored a goal in the 72nd minute of play to lift the Golden Griffins to a 1-0 victory over Pitt at the Demske Sports Complex. The loss drops Pitt to 3-8-1 overall.

“We were the much better team in this game and had many more opportunities than they did,” Luxbacher said. “We are really struggling offensively right now.”

Golden Griffin Matt Rath netted his team-leading third goal of the season for the game’s lone score. The goal occurred when Jason Wild took a throw-in from the left sideline and launched the ball near Brian Brehm, who was able to get his head on it. The ball then bounced around like a pinball until it landed at Rath’s feet, who promptly “Fed-exed” it into the net to beat Pitt goalkeeper Jordan Marks.

Aside from that, the Griffs barely tested Marks, though Chris Carpenter did blow an opportunity to put the game away with 5:17 to play, when he had an uncontested shot on the Panther’s goalkeeper. Marks made the initial save, and then recovered in time to stop Carpenter’s rebound shot.

The Pitt offense did put pressure on the Canisius defense, but Golden Griffin goalkeeper Matt Houghton averted all danger en route to a shutout victory over the Panthers.

The Panthers continue their road swing this Saturday at 7 p.m. when they take on the mighty University of Connecticut Huskies in Storrs, Conn. The Panthers will face one of the nation’s premier men’s programs in UConn – not exactly what the doctor ordered for an offensively deficient team.

“They are one of the best teams in the country,” Luxbacher said. “This game will be a big test for us.”