#PGHSoccer Weekly Men's College Round-Up

It was a pretty busy Labor Day weekend for the local college soccer scene.
Here’s a quick wrap-around of the locals and what lies ahead in the coming weeks.
One quick note — I will be at Pitt’s ACC Home Opener this Friday at Ambrose Urbanic Field vs Louisville (7 p.m. kickoff), and will provide a preview on Friday.

PITT 

Overall Record – (1-1-1)
Last week –  Pitt went to Philadephia for a Labor Day weekend in the City of Brotherly Love — splitting a pair of games.  The Panthers lost 1-0 to Temple, but bounced back with a 4-1 win over Saint Joseph.
Three different Panthers netted goals including freshman Luca Mellor (2), junior Raj Kahlon and senior Matt Venanzi.

“It was progress and an overall better collective effort,” head coach Jay Vidovich said.
“We were more committed to defending tonight. Our transitions and movement off of each other paid off with several quality attacking movements.”

The victory also marks the first at Pitt for Vidovich, improving his career record to 273-122-51.
Up Next –
The Panthers return to Pittsburgh Friday, Sept. 9 as they host Louisville in the ACC opener at 7 p.m.   Pittsburgh Soccer Report will provide on-site coverage of this game on Friday.    

RMU 

Overall Record – 0-3
Last week –  In its lone match of the weekend, the Colonials continue to struggle, losing to Hartwick, 4-0.
The Hawks jumped on top in the fourth minute of play and didn’t look back as they upended RMU behind three goals from Jamie O’Grady. The Colonials slip to 0-3.
Up Next – Robert Morris plays its first road contest of the season next Sunday, Sept. 11, when it travels to Olean, N.Y., for a 1:00 p.m. match against St. Bonaventure.

DUQUESNE 

Overall Record – 1-2
Last week – In its only game in the past week, Duquesne scored twice in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a three-goal first half deficit in a 3-2 defeat at Wright State.
A pair of freshmen got the Dukes on the board in the 61st minute when Zach Hall took a cross from Ryan Landry (Shaler) on the far right side of the six-yard box and bounced a shot by WSU’s Ryan Pignatiello to make it 3-1. The Dukes cut it to one when Fredrik Borenstein took a cross from Ian Larson at the far right post and headed it by Pignatiello in the 73rd minute.

“That was certainly a tale of two halves. As a program we have to learn that at this level of soccer you have to come ready to play every night,” said Chase Brooks, Duquesne Men’s head coach.  
“Every game is an absolute fight for 90 minutes. You can’t take plays off. We need to take the energy we had in the second half and learn how to apply it for an entire game. When we learn to do that, good things will happen.”

Up Next – The Dukes return home for the Duquesne Invitational on Sept. 9 & 11 on Rooney Field.
Friday matchups include:

Bucknell (H) vs. Canisius at 5:00 p.m.,

Duquesne (H) vs. Wofford at 8:00 p.m.

On Sunday,

Bucknell (H) vs Wofford at 11:00 a.m.

Duquesne (H) vs Canisius  2:00 p.m.

WVU

Overall Record – 2-1
Last week – followed up opening weekend upset of #7 ranked Georgetown, with 1-0 win over Princeton.  The Mountaineers remained in the NCAA Division I top 25 — as they’re now ranked number 22.

Here’s more from the match vs Princeton:

Sophomore midfielder Tucker Stephenson netted his second goal in as many matches and the defense put up record-tying numbers to lead the Mountaineers (2-1) to their second consecutive win on the young season.

WVU held the Tigers (0-1) to one shot in the match and no shots on goal. It marks the third time in program history that WVU has held the opposition to just one shot in a contest and the first since 1994. Princeton’s zero shots on goal also ties a WVU record, set on seven previous occasions, including in last Sunday’s upset win over No. 7 Georgetown.

 Stephenson’s goal, his second of the season and fourth of his career, came in the 43rd minute on a set piece. A free kick was awarded to the Mountaineers about 30 yards out on the left side. Junior midfielder Joey Piatczyc sent the kick into the box, directly to Stephenson who headed it in.

Up Next – WVU’s homestand continues on Friday, Sept. 9, as the Mountaineers host ETSU at 7 p.m. ET.

D II, III and NAIA

POINT PARK (NAIA)

Overall Record – (1-0-1)
The Pioneers won its first game of the year at home — at Highmark Stadium — as Alan Ramos scored 31 seconds into the first overtime period for a 2-1 victory over visiting Washington & Jefferson College in its season opener on Thursday night at Highmark Stadium.
On a quick turnaround, Point Park traveled to Michigan, and battled Marygrove (Mich.) in an NAIA non-conference game, to a 1-1 tie in double overtime on Saturday. The Pioneers (1-0-1) and Mustangs (2-1-1) played for the second year in a row, and both games have ended in 2OT as the teams are evenly matched.

Carnegie Mellon (NCAA D III, 2-0) 

The Tartans started off the season with a pair of wins — beating Muskingum with an easy 9-2 win at home…
The Carnegie Mellon University men’s soccer team is off to a 2-0 start after defeating the University of Mount Union, 1-0, on Saturday, September 3, on the road in Alliance, Ohio. The win marks head coach Brandon Bowman’s 200th career victory.
The Tartans goal came late in the first half when sophomore Zack Masciopinto (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) converted a penalty kick.

La Roche College (NCAA D III) 

Overall Record (1-1)
The Redhawks had a good start — beating Waynesburg 1-0 on Friday, then lost to Otterbein University, 3-0 on Saturday.
In Friday’s win, LaRoche’s only goal of the game came from a connection off of defender, Justin Magnotti (Peters Township) to midfielder, Pedro Ansede with 4:13 left in the first half.
Freshman goalkeeper Austin Gorman (Ambridge) preserved the clean sheet after a foul in the box rewarded Waynesburg with a penalty kick in the 62nd minute of the game — and Gorman came up with the big save on the PK in his college debut.
La Roche will be playing a number of other regional local NCAA Division III schools in the coming week:    Westminster (Thurs), St. Vincent (Sat) and W&J (Wed. Sept. 14).