Panthers fail to cool Rockets’ engines

In sports, one mental lapse can affect an entire game. For the Pitt women’s soccer team, it… In sports, one mental lapse can affect an entire game. For the Pitt women’s soccer team, it couldn’t have come at a worse time than Sunday afternoon.

Diana Ginley’s header with 58 seconds left gave the Toledo Rockets a 2-1 victory over the Panthers at Founders Field, the same place where Pitt upset nationally ranked West Virginia three days prior.

The game began a half an hour late because multiple shots were fired at Toledo’s bus at the Comfort Inn and Suites in Mt. Lebanon. Nobody was on the bus and no charges have been filed yet.

When play finally began, the Panthers had difficulty finding the back of the net, despite strong offensive play. Although Pitt outshot Toledo 13-11 and posted eight shots on goal, Rocket goalie Jen Whipple stopped seven shots, including four from Panther midfielder Corina Sebesta. Whipple also impeded two nearly successful headers by Erica Wright and Katie Surma in the second half for the Rockets (2-1).

In the first half, the Panthers thought they caught a break when, after Pelusi dropped a shot, Kelly Langenbeck had a chance for a score but pushed it wide. On the next possession, though, Kirsty Wilson scored on a header off Szinzski’s corner to open up a 1-0 Toledo lead.

Pitt finally got on the board on a goal from junior midfielder Kristina Francois in the 66th minute on an assist from Jennifer DeLaHoz. Despite more Pitt scoring opportunities, the Rockets kept Pitt off the board until Ginley knocked in the game winner and the Panthers (2-1 overall, 1-0 Big East) from the ranks of unbeaten.

Panther coach Sue Moy Chin said the defeat was about the Panthers not maintaining focus for the entire game.

“[The defeat was] obviously very disappointing,” she said. “We talk about the girls keeping their focus for the full 90 minutes and we didn’t. That last goal there was a mental error from our defender. We didn’t track their players going forward and we paid for it. So we just gotta learn from it and make sure we stay plugged in for 90 minutes.”

Pelusi is willing to shoulder the blame for the loss, but is still ready to move on.

“It’s just a matter of staying focused for the whole 90 minutes,” the senior said. “I kind of felt we went in and out and you have [crappy] games like that that happen. I think we definitely should have won this game, but it just gets us more ready to play our next game because we leave the field with a bad feeling.”

Despite this, the reigning Big East Goalkeeper of the Year, from nearby Hampton High School, refused to discredit her defense.

“I think the defense always does a good job,” she said. “As a team, there’s parts of the game we could pick up on. We’ll take this and learn from it. It’s not a total waste.”

Pitt next heads down to Athens, Ga., next weekend for the Georgia Nike Tournament. The Panthers’ next home game is not until Sunday, Sept. 25, when they will host the Syracuse Orange at 2:30 p.m.