The Pitt women’s soccer team opened Big East Conference play last night against No. 11-ranked… The Pitt women’s soccer team opened Big East Conference play last night against No. 11-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers. Despite the spirited and hustled Panther effort, they suffered a 4-2 loss to a relentless Mountaineer attack. The loss dropped the Panthers to 3-4 overall, 0-1 in the Big East.

The Mountaineers dominated offensively, outshooting the Panthers 31-4. Freshman goalkeeper Jamie Pelusi made a career-high 14 saves and played well despite adverse weather conditions.

“Our inability to maintain our intensity and consistency over the entire game was the biggest factor in our loss tonight,” head coach Roland Sturk said.

The Panthers got the scoring underway early in the contest when Cara Kappler found an open Laura Marsh, who placed the ball gently past the over-committed Mountaineers keeper Melissa Haire.

Unphased by the early Panther goal, West Virginia roared back with an offensive display of four unanswered goals. The first came in the 13th minute of play when Rachel Kruze found a wide-open Laura Kane with a cross-field pass that Kane pounded into the corner of the goal. Just six minutes later, Kane found the net again, for her second goal of the contest.

The Mountaineers struck yet again as Lisa Stoia placed a pass to Chrissie Abbot, who put the ball away to up the score to 3-1 West Virginia.

Minutes after the third Mountaineer goal was scored, rain soaked the field. The weather played to the advantage of each team’s offense because of the difficulty in maintaining traction on the wet playing surface.

The Panthers’ took the offensive early in the half and had some scoring chances, but they were snuffed out by an aggressive West Virginia defense.

With the pace of play slowing, the Mountaineers, after a substitution, found the net once again. Stoia found an open Abbot for the fourth and final West Virginia goal.

Late in the game, the Panthers’ offense came back to life when Jaqueline Fix snuck a pass across the net to Lauren Sciocchetti who then headed the ball off the side post and into the back of the net.

“We scored twice against the number one team in the region, and our conference has a lot of tough opponents in it, but I am confident that we can play with any team if we can just find a way to maintain our intensity over a longer period of time,” Sturk added.

The Panthers continue conference play Friday night against Villanova, with game time scheduled for 7 p.m.; On Sunday, the Panthers will host Rutgers at 1 p.m. at Founder’s Field.