Pitt men’s soccer take care of business against Mercyhurst, 2-0

Pitt Men’s Soccer claimed their second consecutive 2-0 win, breezing past Mercyhurst University in a game that could’ve gone even more lopsided.

While soccer isn’t typically described as a game of inches, the thinnest of margins prevented the Panthers from winning in blowout fashion. Senior midfielder Michael Sullivan headed a pass to Luis Sahmkow 22 minutes in, and Sahmkow used his own head to redirect the feed past Mercyhurst goalkeeper Gonzalo Onrubia-Delgado. The play was immediately flagged offsides, though, and a video replay upheld the call.

Pitt nearly broke the ice with less than ten seconds remaining in the first half, when Albert Thorsen poked an excellent chance just left of the net.

Goalkeeper Jack Moxom made his lone save of the shutout early in the second half, but beyond that Pitt’s defense helped keep him from facing much traffic.

Another offsides call burned the Panthers barely a minute after halftime, when Casper Grening collected a bounce that Onrubia-Delgado couldn’t quite corral and kicked it past him. Once again, the play went to review and Pitt came up empty handed.

They wouldn’t be denied for long. True freshman Lasse Dahl raced down the right sideline, threading a pass through the box to Thorsen, who stutter-stepped around the charging Onrubia-Delgado and flipped the ball into the net.

Dahl, a native of Denmark, described how the play developed.

“We talked about it at halftime, that he should get in there when I had the ball,” Dahl said of Thorsen’s crashing toward the goal, giving him a target as he broke down the wing. “I’ve played the most on the right wing, I’m most used to it… it’s pretty natural.”

Panthers Pull Away

Thorsen nearly scored another less than four minutes later, laying out for a header, but Onrubia-Delgado managed to get in front of it.

With temperatures in the mid 80s and humidity north of 60 percent at kickoff, head coach Jay Vidovich said that the sun going down in the second half helped his team find their stride.

“First half was a little lethargic, I think we were all kinda lulled to sleep by the heat and stoppages of play,” Vidovich said. “The sun, it’s heavy. It’s not an excuse, they had to be out there as well, but everything was really slow in the first half.”

Find their stride they did.

ACC Preseason Watch List member Guilherme Feitosa doubled the lead near the 78 minute mark, gathering a bouncing ball and kicking it home. After getting foiled on four prior shot attempts in that half alone, Feitosa described how it felt to finally cash in, especially on a play that developed awkwardly.

“I was getting a little frustrated from my first chances missed. But gotta keep trying: it was a team that was playing a little low, so it’s hard to break them down,” Feitosa said. “I saw it coming so I kinda anticipated it, I saw that the defender didn’t see I was behind him, maybe was gonna flick it over. I was there when they needed me, tried to put it in… luckily the ball found my feet.”

Up Next:

Pitt Men’s Soccer improves to 2-0-0 on the season. They will head to University Park to take on Penn State at 7 pm on Friday, August 30.