Women’s soccer team rebounds after tough Big East road loss

The Pitt women’s soccer team split a pair of one-goal games on the road over the weekend,… The Pitt women’s soccer team split a pair of one-goal games on the road over the weekend, dropping a Big East conference game to St. John’s on Friday and rebounding for a conference win against Rutgers on Sunday. The split leaves the Panthers with a 5-7-1 overall record and a 2-4-1 record in Big East play.

“It was disappointing because I don’t think we showed our best on Friday,” head coach Sue-Moy Chin said. “But we did rebound and play better on Sunday.”

St. John’s 1, Pitt 0

Goalkeeper Jamie Pelusi made six saves in the defeat, including two excellent ones in the first half, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a stagnant Pitt offense.

The Panthers were out-shot 7-4 in the first half, but did have two big scoring chances that were denied both times. Erin Hills sent a direct kick on net, but Red Storm goalkeeper Jamie Beran turned the shot aside, keeping the Panthers scoreless.

The Red Storm scored the only goal of the game early in the second half.

“We didn’t get much going in the way of our attack,” Chin said. “We played much harder in the second half than we did in the first.”

Pitt 1, Rutgers 0

Lisa Schulte scored her second goal of the season in the 29th minute, which proved to be enough to push the Panthers past the Scarlet Knights.

Schulte chased down the ball and beat a defender. She had a semi-breakaway on the left side and shot the ball to her right, to the far post, but the goalkeeper got a hand on it, creating a rebound. Janean Gardener picked up the rebound and passed it back across the box to Schulte, who sent it in for the goal.

Jamie Pelusi made four saves, preserving her fourth shutout of the season.

“Carli Brill was excellent for us on Sunday, and Jamie played exceptionally well for us again in goal,” Chin said. “Our attack was a lot better on Sunday.”

The Panthers return to action tonight at home against St. Francis at 7 p.m.