Samiah Phiri’s second half brace leads Pitt to 2-1 triumph at Cincinnati

FINAL:  Pitt 2, Cincinnati 1 

Match Stats 

No. 22 Pitt Panthers put a bow on their non-conference play, defeating Cincinnati, 2-1, on Sunday afternoon at Gettler Stadium.

The Panthers dominated the front half of the first 45 offensively. Defender Ashton Gordon was the first to attempt a shot for Pitt just at the 4^th minute. Later in the half, Deborah Abiodun brought the ball up to the goal to shoot in the bottom right of the net but was saved by goalkeeper Anna Rexford.

Pitt was leading in shots (5-2), shots on goal (2-1) and corner kicks (3-2) at the end of the first half, with solid defending that included one Ellie Breech save, keeping the match scoreless going into the locker rooms.

The Panthers pushed for the go-ahead goal early in the the second half, and finally broke through when Samiah Phiri sent the ball directly to the bottom center of the net to put the Panthers on the board first after a clean pass from Amanda West.

Phiri knew she wasn’t done for the afternoon. After a few shots from both sides, Cincinnati equalized the score, just leaving over three minutes left of play. No more than 90 seconds later, Phiri came up from the back to launch the ball into the back of the net, posting her second goal of the afternoon and securing the game for Pitt.

Pitt held strong numbers today with 16-9 shots, 9-3 shots on goal, 9-4 corner kicks overall and goalkeeper Ellie Breech securing two saves for the Panthers.

UP NEXT

The Panthers will continue their road journey as they open up ACC play in Raleigh, NC where they will face NC State on Sunday, Sept. 17 at 2 PM.