Pitt beats Bucknell by one goal

The Panthers’ men’s soccer team rallied to score three goals in the second half en route to… The Panthers’ men’s soccer team rallied to score three goals in the second half en route to a 3-2 victory over the Bucknell Bison last night at Founders Field.

Junior Forward Keeyan Young ignited the Panthers’ offense by scoring 42 seconds into the second half. The play developed when midfielder Tyler Bastianelli flipped the ball to Young who slashed in on net and fired the ball past Bison goalkeeper Adam Edwards.

A few minutes later, midfielder Shawn Wildman moved the ball to Johnathan Clow. Clow shot the ball on net, forcing Edwards to make a diving save.

Soon after that, Young worked the ball across the middle and passed it over to Wildman, who was slashing down the right side of the field. Wildman moved the ball into the box to the left of Edwards and crossed it to Clow.

In an attempt to shoot the ball, Clow deflected the ball on to Bryan Headrick. Headrick wasted no time in shooting the ball to the back of the net. The goal came at 50:34, with Wildman and Clow receiving assists on the play.

The third goal came at 60:17, when Headrick worked the ball down the left side of the field and out of the corner. He worked his way toward the net, but stopped and passed out to Bastianelli. Bastianelli took the pass and quickly shot it from 25 yards out. Edwards dove to make the save, but was unable to get a hand on it.

The Panthers (4-8 Overall, 1-4 Big East) had several more opportunities in the final 30 minutes to add to their lead over Bucknell (6-5).

Panthers’ midfielder Marco Carrizales was all alone as he headed toward Edwards after receiving a pass from forward Jeremy Gillespie with about 25 minutes left, but the play was blown dead on an offsides call.

Young had the same experience twice in the final ten minutes of the game, when play was stopped due to an offsides call as he was heading toward the net all by himself.

Even though the Panthers were scoring goals by the bucketful in the second half, they still had to worry about Bucknell’s offense.

Bucknell’s first goal came 12 minutes into the first half, when Panthers’ defensemen Clay Haflich turned the ball over to Bucknell, which allowed play to remain in the Panthers’ zone.

The Panthers regained possession only to lose it on a misguided pass through the middle. Bison’s forward Chris Beekman took the errant pass and attacked the net. He kicked the ball from five yards out while being taken down by a Panthers’ defender. The ball soared past Panthers’ goalkeeper Justin Lowery to give the Bison an early 1-0 lead.

Bucknell joined the early second-half scoring party when Bison midfielder Scott Visnic scored on a breakaway two minutes after the Panthers’ third goal. Visnic controlled the ball on a clear by midfielder Mark Mascarenhas. Mascarenhas cleared the ball on a corner kick by Carrizales that flew high and wide of the goal, but still in play.

With about four minutes left, Visnic came close to tying the game at three, when he had an open shot at Lowery. Visnic’s shot flew above the crossbar and out of play.

The Panthers were able to keep the Bison from getting another scoring opportunity. Lowery finished the game with two official saves and recorded his fourth win as Pitt’s starting goalkeeper this season.

The 3-2 victory marks the first Panthers’ victory this season that featured more than one goal. All their previous victories were 1-0 shutouts.

“We always make it interesting,” coach Joe Luxbacher said.

The Panthers travel to Georgetown on Oct. 12 for the first of three straight Big East games.