Men’s soccer pitches shutout versus BC

Defense was the deciding factor in Pitt’s 1-0 victory over the defending Big East champion… Defense was the deciding factor in Pitt’s 1-0 victory over the defending Big East champion Boston College Eagles on Saturday.

The No. 13-ranked Eagles (0-1 Overall, 0-1 Big East) outshot Pitt 17-9, with 11 of those shots being fired in the second half. Pitt’s defense and sophomore goaltender Justin Lowery, who made his first collegiate start, stopped the onslaught of shots.

Lowery made five critical saves to keep the potent Boston College offense off the board.

Pitt (1-0,1-0) kept the ball in Boston College’s half of the field for the majority of the first half. The constant pressure led to Keeyan Young’s first goal of the season at the 33:37 mark in the first half, which would prove to be the winning goal.

Young set up the play when he stole the ball from an Eagles defender and passed it to teammate Brendon Smith, who then passed it to Johnathan Clow. Clow shot the ball, and Boston College goaltender Mike Cardenas made the save, but deflected the shot out to Young, who did not hesitate to place the ball in the back of the net.

Boston College came out in the second half showing why it was ranked No. 13. Pitt spent the majority of the second half warding off shots from the Eagles.

Freshman Brian Madden made several plays on defense, which kept the Panthers’ shutout intact.

“I thought we ran out of gas a bit in the second half,” coach Joe Luxbacher said. “But we dug in and hung in [there] for dear life. A win is a win.”

When the game entered the final minute, Pitt was able to ease the pressure and move the ball downfield, where it would remain until the clock hit zero.

“We had the mentality coming in that we were going to win,” Young said. “You have to have that mentality.”

The Panthers started four freshman and three sophomores in the game. The team has 14 freshmen overall, but that does not worry Coach Luxbacher at all.

“The core of the team is back from last season,” Luxbacher said.

Pitt will be participating in the Mayor’s Cup next weekend. It will face Hartwick Sept. 6 at noon and Oneonta Sept. 7 at 2:30 p.m.