Men’s Soccer: Hat trick highlights offensive outburst in first win

Pitt senior forward Chris Davis didn’t start the men’s soccer game against Howard University with much luck Tuesday.

In the 17th minute, Davis sent a shot at Howard’s net that rocketed off the crossbar. He corralled the rebound and attempted to take another shot, but was pulled down in the box.

Davis, moments away from scoring his first goal, instead drew a penalty. He’s not the team’s primary option for penalties, but Nico Wrobel, Pitt’s go-to in that situation, was on the bench. 

The night began turning around for Davis, who was awarded the opportunity to take the kick. He looked calm for a goalless player in his approach and tucked the ball into the bottom left corner to put Pitt up 1-0. 

“It was great to finally get a goal,” Davis said. “[The scoring] has been absent this season, but it is just about the win, really. It’s nice to finally get a win.”

And his performance only improved from there.

Davis tallied a hat trick, freshman Kevin Murray added two goals and freshman goalie Braden Horton recorded a shutout in Pitt’s 9-0 victory at Ambrose Urbanic Field. 

The offensive outburst led the Panthers to their first victory since Sept. 19, 2012, against Robert Morris. 

Pitt (1-10-4, 1-8-2 ACC) saw further offensive contributions from John Cordier, Michael Tuohy, Ryan Myers and Ryan McKenzie, with each of them chipping in one goal against the Bison (1-16).

Head coach Joe Luxbacher attributed the firepower to the momentum Pitt gained through its early lead.

“The guys got into it and started playing with a little bit of confidence,” Luxbacher said.

After failing to score in their previous seven matches and scoring just once in 10 conference games, the Panthers more than tripled their overall season scoring output from a lowly four goals to 13.

Just 12 minutes after his first goal, Davis continued his torrid play and struck again to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead. Then Tuohy notched Pitt’s third point when he rocketed a shot into the upper left corner of the net past Howard goalie Eric Hamilton, who unsuccessfully lunged after the well-placed shot. 

After striking for three goals in 38 minutes and two in 12 minutes, the Panthers would score once more in the first half. After receiving a perfect pass from junior defender Julian Dickenson, Cordier fired a shot from about 12 yards out that eluded a sprawling Hamilton. 

“[Tonight] is bittersweet, but obviously it is nice to get a win in your last time playing on your home field,” Cordier said of his final contest at Ambrose Urbanic Field. “Tonight’s effort showed that we were capable of putting up this kind of performance scoring-wise, so going into our last game, we’ll give it one more chance.” 

Following the halftime break, the Panthers continued to pressure the Bison. Despite the continued offensive onslaught, the Panthers couldn’t convert on a pair of early opportunities. One shot clanked off the post, another off the crossbar.

Pitt did, however, finally score its fifth goal in the 61st minute, when Zane Meehan slotted a through ball to Davis, who turned and rifled a shot that found the back of the net for the senior’s third goal. 

Davis’ hat trick was the 17th in the program’s history and the first since Nick Wysong accomplished the feat last season against Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne. 

After Davis’ goal, the Panthers struck again in the 65th minute. Myers buried a goal off a pass from Tuohy, who recorded his second assist. The goal was Myers’ second of the season and the Panthers’ sixth of the game. 

But Pitt kept up its pressure, even with a 6-0 lead, through relentless runs, persistent shots and physical tackles on the ball. The effort resulted in 38 shots, 20 of which went on goal, and 15 fouls.

Despite his team’s apparent dominance, Luxbacher credited the Bison for hanging tough the entire season.

“Obviously Howard was not too strong tonight, but they are a quality team,” Luxbacher said. “Duquesne only beat them 1-0, and they only lost by a goal to [Virginia Military Institute].” 

“They do not have a good record, but all of their games have been tight,” he added. “Tonight’s effort just shows not only what we’re capable of, but the strength of our schedule. This season we’ve played so many top teams, and now when we get up against an average Division I team, we smoked them.” 

After Myers scored, Murray added two goals in just nine minutes, with both assists credited to Sam Marks. Then McKenzie, a senior, scored in his final home game to cap the scoring.

Though Tuesday marked the team’s last home game, Pitt has one opportunity remaining on Friday at No. 1 Notre Dame.  

“It is going to be a very tough test,” Luxbacher said. “We’re capable of playing pretty well, and we have done it in certain games, but we’ve always shot ourselves in the foot. Tonight things started to click, and the confidence should help, but we’ve still got to go out and play.”