Women’s soccer suffers a pair of 1-0 losses

The Pitt women’s soccer team traveled to Columbus, Ohio, last weekend to participate in the… The Pitt women’s soccer team traveled to Columbus, Ohio, last weekend to participate in the 2002 Ohio State University Soccer Tournament. The Panthers were looking to improve on a two game winning streak and build momentum heading into their Big East schedule.

Instead, Pitt left Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium with two close losses and no goals to show for their efforts.

Bowling Green 1, Pitt 0

Pitt opened the tournament Friday against a determined Bowling Green team. The game was a defensive struggle throughout the first half, and the contest remained scoreless as the two teams headed to their locker rooms for the break.

Unfortunately for Pitt, it didn’t take long for the Falcons to strike. Just 58 seconds into the second half, Bowling Green forward Jill Conover received a pass from Leslie Dawley and sent the ball into the net from the top of the six-yard box. That would prove to be the game-winner, as the two teams neutralized each other defensively until the end of regulation.

Pitt outshot the Falcons 10-9, and Lauren Sciocchetti led the way for the Panthers with four shots while Pitt goalkeeper Jaime Pelusi notched two saves.

Pitt head coach Roland Sturk was less than thrilled with his team’s performance against Bowling Green.

“In the Bowling Green Game, we started out with great intensity, but I think that after a little while we started playing down to their level,” Sturk said. “We made a mistake early on in the second half, and we never could quite rebound from that point on.”

With the win, Bowling Green improved to 3-1-1 on the season. For the Panthers (3-2-0), the loss snapped a two game winning streak and earned them a shot at the host team, Ohio State, Saturday afternoon.

Ohio State 1, Pitt 0

Ohio State handed Pitt its second consecutive shutout loss on a rainy Saturday afternoon. However, the Buckeye victory was not without controversy.

Twenty minutes into the game, Lisa Grubb advanced through the zone and launched the lone goal of the game past Pelusi.

A goal that, according to Sturk, should not have been allowed.

“I felt like in the Ohio State game we were robbed,” Sturk said. “The tape showed that Lisa Grubb was clearly offsides on the goal that they scored, and they also took away one of our goals.”

Despite the loss and the controversy, Sturk was extremely happy with the way his team played against the Buckeyes, who improved to 2-4-0.

“I was very encouraged by the way that we played in that game. As with most Big 10 schools, they are a big, physical team, and we did a good job defensively against them,” Sturk said.

Ohio State outshot the Panthers 22-11, and Colleen Hoban launched three shots for the Buckeyes as well as the assist on the Grubb goal. Despite the setback, Pelusi grabbed 10 saves.

The Panthers are now 3-3 overall heading into their conference schedule. Despite the two losses during the weekend, Sturk is confident in his team, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.

“We’ve only given up two goals in four games,” Sturk said. “There were a lot of questions coming into the season about our goalkeeping position, and Jaime has obviously put those to rest with her play. We’ve also gotten particularly good play from our defense.”

Sturk’s main concern for the Panthers from the weekend was their tendency to start slow.

“We need to be a little more consistent,” Sturk said. “We’ve been playing with great determination and intensity, but we need to focus on coming out and scoring the first goal. When we’ve done that, we’ve been successful, but we struggle when we are playing from behind.”

The Panthers play their Big East opener tonight at 7 p.m. as they host West Virginia at Founders Field.