Men’s soccer suffers first loss of season to Bucknell

After moving up in the NSCAA/Adidas national rankings this week, the No. 18-ranked Panthers… After moving up in the NSCAA/Adidas national rankings this week, the No. 18-ranked Panthers (5-1-0 overall, 1-0-0 Big East) dropped their first game of the season in a 1-0 loss to the Bucknell Bison (5-1-0) in Lewisburg, Pa.

Pitt first moved into the rankings last week as it was originally ranked No. 20. The loss snapped Pitt’s five game winning streak.

After a scoreless first half, Bucknell’s Jonathan Hemmert scored the lone goal on a penalty shot that he was able to sneak past Pitt goalkeeper Justin Gaul with two minutes, 22 seconds left in the second half.

The Bison received a penalty shot after a hand ball was called on a Panthers’ defender on the goaline.

The Bison defense held off Pitt for the final five minutes of the contest as the Panthers failed to capitalize on several scoring opportunities.

There were a total of 33 fouls and four yellow cards as both teams finished with 10 shots apiece. Pitt has 81 fouls this season compared to its opponents’ 72 fouls.

John Occhiuto led Pitt with four shots and Michael Preston added two shots. Hemmert paced the Bison with two shots as well.

Pitt took three shots in the first half compared to the Bison’s six. In the second half, the Panthers attempted seven shots and Bucknell attempted four.

Pitt’s leading scorer Marco Carrizales did not attempt a shot in the entire game. Carrizales leads the Panthers in goals with eight and has taken 18 shots as he also leads the team in shots attempted. The Panthers have attempted 69 shots this season and have scored six goals, which is an average of .98 points per game.

Gaul came up with two saves while Bison goalkeeper Adam Edwards had six saves. Gaul has 28 saves and four shutouts this season.

Pitt is next in action at home against Connecticut on Sept. 21 at 1 p.m. at Founders Field, where the Panthers are 1-0 this season.