Men’s soccer blanks Red Flash

The Pitt men’s soccer team was able to snap its four-game losing streak last night, with a 1-0… The Pitt men’s soccer team was able to snap its four-game losing streak last night, with a 1-0 win over the St. Francis Red Flash.

Pitt (2-4 Overall, 1-1 Big East) and St. Francis (0-4-1) played a scoreless first half. The Panthers came close to scoring on a few occasions, only to see the ball miss the net.

With 14:40 remaining in the first half, the Panthers’ Jacob Kring passed the ball across to forward Keeyan Young, who kicked the ball just to the right of the net.

St. Francis applied offensive pressure when forward Bernie Showers shot the ball into the box, but Panther defenders bunched together and kicked the ball out of harm’s way.

The second half started with the momentum on St. Francis’ side. It held the ball in Pitt’s offensive zone in the beginning of the half.

The Red Flash almost got on the scoreboard first when they fired the ball in on the net, causing Panthers’ goalkeeper Justin Lowery to make a diving save. On the rebound, St. Francis midfielder Andrew Rohacek shot the ball past Lowery, but the ball hit the post and deflected out of bounds.

On another Panthers scoring attempt, midfielder Bryan Headrick moved the ball down the right side of the field and fired the ball toward the net from a tough angle. Flash goalkeeper Bobby Pipech had to dive out to make the save.

A few minutes after that opportunity, the Panthers’ Billy Brush worked the ball over to Young, who narrowly missed the net.

Soon after that, Brush scored, giving Pitt the lead. Young kicked the ball across the box, and Brush dove in headfirst. The ball deflected off his head and settled down beside him.

Brush, who was now lying on the ground, quickly jumped to his feet and kicked the ball just over the Red Flash goalkeeper, who was on the ground after reacting to the previous shot.

“[It was] purely hard work,” Brush said of his heads-up shot.

The goal came at the 59-minute-mark. Young and Headrick were credited with assists on the play.

With the 1-0 lead, the Panthers’ defense kept St. Francis from getting any scoring opportunities. The last scoring opportunity came when the Flash’s Eric Nelson shot the ball on Lowery. Lowery dove to make the save with about 11 minutes left to play.

With time running out, Showers sent a final shot toward Lowery. Lowery made the save as the buzzer sounded.

“It was a solid win, but again, we had trouble scoring goals,” Joe Luxbacher said. “[But] we got the one we needed.”

Pitt ended a four-game losing streak, with its last victory coming in its first game of the season, against Boston College on Aug. 30.

“We needed a win and we got it,” Luxbacher said.

The Panthers are next in action against Big East foe Seton Hall on Sept. 20 at 1 p.m.