Pitt’s lack of offense continues in 1-0 loss to Buckeyes

The men’s soccer team suffered its fifth shutout of the year against Ohio State at Founders… The men’s soccer team suffered its fifth shutout of the year against Ohio State at Founders Field on Friday without two key offensive players — their leading scorer, forward Keeyan Young, and midfielder Tyler Bastianelli — who together account for eight of the Panthers’ 19 goals this season.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Despite missing those two players, the Panthers (5-10-1 Overall, 2-5-1 Big East) played strong and came up with several scoring chances.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ In the first half, Panther forward Billy Brush had an open look at the Buckeyes’ net, and fired a shot that flew just above the crossbar.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Marco Carrizales created a great scoring opportunity when he put the ball in play on a corner kick to Pitt defender Clay Haflich. Haflich took the ball off the corner kick and got it to midfielder Jacob Kring, who fired the ball in on net. Buckeyes’ goalkeeper Raymond Burse, Jr. dove to make the save.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Just minutes after that, midfielder Zamahir Campos positioned himself all alone about five yards in front of the goal, and midfielder Bryan Headrick crossed the ball to him. Campos controlled the pass and got too much under his shot, causing the ball to fly high over the crossbar.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘[Ohio State] had a good chance and scored. We had a couple of good chances and didn’t. It’s been the story of the season,’ coach Joe Luxbacher said.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The first half ended with no goals being scored by either side.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ OhioState (4-9-3) had a quality scoring chance when midfielder Taylor Korpieski controlled the ball and used the back of his foot to move the ball behind him to Sammy Tamporello. Tamporello took the pass and quickly moved the ball back to Korpieski, who wasted no time firing the ball in on Lowery. Lowery dove to make one of his five saves on the day.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The lone goal of the game came right after a Panther scoring chance.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Haflich tapped the ball to midfielder Brian Madden, who shot the ball into the hands of a diving Burse.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ OhioState countered and took the ball downfield quickly. Buckeyes’ defender Dana York crossed the ball to Tamporello, who shot it past Lowery for his first goal of the season.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The goal came at 55:25, with midfielder Rob Strachan and York recording assists on the play.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Pitt midfielder Jeffrey Tidd generated a few chances to help his team tie the game. On one play, a teammate kicked the ball toward the goal and Tidd slashed in, deflecting the ball just right of the net with his head.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ With about nine minutes left Tidd crossed the ball to Brush who fired a shot on goal that Burse stopped with a diving save.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The game ended with OhioState outshooting Pitt 13-11. Burse recorded four saves and his second shutout win of the season.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The Panthers have two games left on the schedule, and both are against Big East teams.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘[We have] two difficult games, but if we win two games, there is a very good chance we make the [Big East] tournament,’ Luxbacher said.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The Panthers next game is at Virginia Tech on Wednesday. Their final home game will be Sunday at 1 p.m. against Syracuse.