Pitt drops Fighting Irish in overtime

After a recent skid, things are looking up for the Pitt men’s soccer team.

The Panthers… After a recent skid, things are looking up for the Pitt men’s soccer team.

The Panthers defeated previously ranked Notre Dame, 1-0, Friday in South Bend, Ind. They also finished last week with two players receiving Big East recognition.

The Panthers continued their domination of the Fighting Irish, despite being outshot and out-corner-kicked, 11-1. Pitt has a 6-1 all-time record against Notre Dame since they began playing each other.

This victory moves Pitt into sixth place in the Big East standings with a 2-2-1 conference record and 7-3-1 overall record. Notre Dame falls into seventh place and dropped out of the NSCAA/Adidas rankings, falling from No. 16.

The match went into overtime, which is nothing new for either team. Pitt was just coming off a 0-0 tie against West Virginia, their third sudden death battle this year. The Fighting Irish have competed in five overtime battles thus far this season.

Pitt’s winning goal came with 1:57 remaining in the first sudden death overtime. Freshman forward Keeyan Young scored the winning goal off a chip shot that sailed over the head of Notre Dame goalkeeper Greg Tait, who had replaced starter Chris Sawyer.

The goal was assisted by sophomore Jeff Krause.

Erich Braun led Notre Dame with five shots, while three Pitt players had two shots each.

The Panthers played with a lot of heart and aggression, picking up 20 fouls to Notre Dame’s nine.

Three yellow cards were handed out in the contest to sophomore Marco Carrizales, senior Josh Whitham, and assistant coach, Kirk Brodows.

Despite being outshot 20-10, Pitt goalkeeper Justin Gaul kept the Panthers in the contest with four critical saves.

Gaul moved into first place in saves in the Big East with 60 on the year. His consistency in the goal earned him the honor of Big East Goalkeeper of the Week, as Gaul had two shutouts last week with 10 total saves.

Young also received Big East honors as co-Rookie of the Week. This was the second time this season Young was recognized with this award.

“This was a total team effort,” head coach Joe Luxbacher said. “Our guys made a lot of big plays, many of which nobody gets recognition for.”

Pitt has the week off to prepare to battle Seton Hall (5-4-2) at Founder’s Field Oct. 12.

“We have a few big games coming up,” Luxbacher said. “We have a good opportunity to move up in the rankings. We have been playing well enough to win.”