The men’s soccer team took the field last weekend to battle Big East foes West Virginia and… The men’s soccer team took the field last weekend to battle Big East foes West Virginia and Marquette. The Panthers displayed great defensive ability in both games, but were unable to muster many shots on offense.

Despite the lack of offensive support, the team still managed to come away 1-1, beating new conference member Marquette, but falling to nearby rival West Virginia. After the weekend, the Panthers record stands at 3-7-1 overall, 2-5 in Big East play.

“We actually played better soccer against WVU than against Marquette,” head coach Joe Luxbacher said. “We didn’t get the win there, but [we] showed improvement against a very good team.”

West Virginia 2, Pitt 0

In Wednesday’s soccer version of the “Backyard Brawl,” the Panthers played brilliantly for all but one minute of their game against the Mountaineers. Unfortunately, one minute made the difference, as West Virginia scored two goals in that time span to defeat the Panthers 2-0 at Founders Field. With the victory, West Virginia improved to 7-4-1 overall and 3-2-1 in the Big East.

West Virginia scored both of its goals in the opening half, the first coming in the 31st minute of play. Mountaineer Geoff Cameron dribbled the ball to the center of the field before rifling a shot from 30 yards away. The ball landed in the bottom left-hand corner of the net to beat Panther goalie Justin Lowery and give West Virginia a 1-0 lead. One minute later, the score moved to 2-0 as the Mountaineers’ Jarrod Smith beat Lowery with a long shot of his own, this one from 20 yards out. Andy Wright recorded the assist on the play.

Both teams played well in the second half and were evenly matched. The Panther defense kept the Mountaineers from scoring, but received little help from the offense, as Pitt was unable to score. For the game, West Virginia outshot Pitt 12-9.

Pitt 1, Marquette 0

The Panthers flew to Milwaukee on Saturday to take on the Golden Eagles of Marquette in their first visit to the city for a conference game. As it turned out, the trip was just what the team needed to halt its three-game losing skid. Pitt’s Matt Firster tallied his first career goal in the 52nd minute, and it proved to be the difference, as Pitt registered a 1-0 victory.

“I was happy with the result, but not so much with the way we played,” Luxbacher said. “I know we can play better than we did.”

Firster’s goal came in the second half when Steve Cavalier lofted a corner kick into the box. Cavalier’s well-placed kick gave Firster the opportunity to put the ball in the net after Marquette goalkeeper Andy Kroll failed to clear the ball in time. The 1-0 lead proved to be enough, as the Panthers defense held firm for the remainder of the game.

“Even though we did not play our best game, you have to give our guys some credit,” Luxbacher said. “We could not get a direct flight to Milwaukee, and because of that, had to be up by 5:30 a.m., catch two flights and then play a soccer game. It’s not like we were playing against the Little Sisters of the Poor either. Marquette is a good team.”

Despite being shutout, the Golden Eagles had two significant scoring chances in the second half. At one point, midfielder Mike Klemm had a great opportunity from seven yards away, but Pitt goalkeeper Jordan Marks made the save, one of his career-high nine on the day. Two minutes later, forward Pat Knoelke kicked a shot past Marks but the ball hit the post, halting the threat.

The Panthers were able to walk away from the field victorious, despite being outshot by the Golden Eagles, 18-5. The Panthers only produced one shot in the first half and four in the second. Although their play was more balanced in the second half, Marquette still owned the majority of possession. Luckily for Pitt, Firster was able to score on the team’s only corner kick of the game.

Coach Luxbacher strongly disagreed with the official number of shots that the statistic indicated.

“I saw that stat and I don’t think it’s accurate,” he said. “We were not peppered with a ton of shots as the stat shows.”

The Panthers’ next game is against Canisius on Wednesday in Buffalo, N.Y. Coach Luxbacher hopes his team will develop more consistency in the coming games.

“It seems like when one guy is on, the other is not; we need to find some consistency,” he said. “Our games are going to be tight; we need to possess the ball more and make the best of our opportunities.”