Men’s soccer falls to Providence 4-2

The Panthers’ men’s soccer team played its final home game of the 2002 season Saturday… The Panthers’ men’s soccer team played its final home game of the 2002 season Saturday afternoon at Founders Field. Ten seniors suited up for the last home match of their Pitt career.

Despite losing these players, freshman forward Keeyan Young displayed hope for the future of the men’s soccer program with another strong performance.

Unfortunately, Senior Day festivities were spoiled as the Panthers could not retaliate against two first half goals and picked up their fifth straight conference loss to Providence, 4-2.

The loss moves Pitt down to 11th place in the Big East Conference with a 2-7-1 section record (8-8-1 overall). Providence slid into ninth place with their 4-5-0 mark in conference play, good enough for them to reach the Big East playoffs.

Providence (6-10) struck first in the contest. Only 14 minutes into the first half, sophomore forward Jeff Smith booted a kick past a diving Pitt goalkeeper, senior Justin Gaul. Smith found the back of the net after a cross from senior midfielder Jonathan Alva-Cavero.

Almost 15 minutes later, the Friars scored again. Freshman midfielder Derek Nobrega increased the Providence lead to 2-0 as he drove the ball away from Pitt defense, unassisted, for his first collegiate goal.

The opening half was physically intense. Providence was ranked second in the Big East for fouls with 18.5 per game, while Pitt follows in third with 17.07 fouls per game. Each team had nine fouls to start the match.

The Panthers were quiet offensively through the first half. With only five shots on goal, two by sophomore midfielder Marco Carrizales, Pitt had to come out stronger after halftime.

Three minutes into the second half, the Panthers had their best chance of scoring as Young was fouled inside the goal box. Carrizales stepped up to take the penalty kick but missed far right.

Young led the team in the second half. He sparked the offense with a drive that led to the first Pitt score on the afternoon.

In the 69th minute of play, Young made a strong drive downfield. His pass was deflected off a Providence defender to the foot of senior midfielder Bryan Hopper who found the back of the net to put the Panthers on the board.

This was Hopper’s third goal on the season, which ranks him third on the team for scoring. Hopper is also tied with teammate Young for assists with three.

Two minutes later, the Friars stopped the Pitt comeback and took control of the game. Freshman midfielder Anthony Petrarca passed a cross to forward Eoin Lynch, who blasted it past Gaul. This would prove to be the game-winning goal for Providence.

With the score 3-1, Pitt wasn’t ready to give in. Senior midfielder John Occhiuto passed the ball to an open Young at the top of the penalty box. Young then outplayed his defender, turned toward the goal and launched a kick that blew right past Friar goalie Jeff Newman.

This goal moved the Young into second place on the team with five goals scored.

“I played harder this last game, especially for the seniors,” Young said. “I tried harder more and more after each game for them.”

But Pitt had no chance to get back into the game after Lynch scored his second goal of the afternoon. After a cross pass from junior midfielder Jonathan Rhode in the 90th minute, Lynch snuck the goal past Gaul. Lynch leads the Friars in scoring, with seven goals on the season.

Frustrations showed for Pitt, who picked up 10 more fouls in the half, compared to Providence’s seven. At about midway through the second period, a small scuffle broke out near the Providence goal. But the Panthers continued to play hard until the final seconds, losing the match 4-2.

Senior Day activities occurred prior to kickoff when the Panthers honored 10 seniors: Gaul, Hopper, Occhiuto, forward Mike Butler, midfielder Mike Doe, defenseman Miles Dowiak, forward Dave Marcinowski, midfielder Nate Montgomery, defenseman Toure Weaver and defenseman Josh Whitham.

Pitt traveled to Virginia yesterday to finish up their regular season schedule.

“The showing of a good team is playing hard when nothing is on the line,” Young said about the determination of the Panthers on Saturday. “What happens is meant to happen. Hopefully we’ll have better things to look forward to in the future.”