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No. 3 Pitt comes up empty against Quakers’, lose 1-0

Photo courtesy Matt Ralph / Philadelphia Soccer Now

Pitt Men’s Soccer suffered their first loss of the 2024 season on Sunday night, coming up empty handed against the Penn Quakers in a 1-0 loss.

While the No. 3 ranked Panthers controlled possession for much of the game, the Quakers’ defense made sure it didn’t hurt them, limiting Pitt to just two shots on goal and none in the first 57 minutes of play.

Penn goalkeeper Phillip Falcon III stopped both of the shots he faced, while Pitt keeper Jack Moxom faced heavy traffic when the Quakers did manage to get up the field, stopping seven of eight shots.

Pitt maintained consistent pressure in the Quakers’ end midway through the first half, putting up three shot attempts in a span of five minutes, but none of them went on target. Moxom, for his part, made five stops in the period before the Quakers finally solved him with less than five minutes to play before the break as Jack Wagoner, after coming into the match, was the recipient of his Quaker teammates persistent sequence that began on the right sideline, then along the endline to keep possession going.

photo courtesy Matt Ralph / Philadelphia Soccer Now 

By the time the ball came to Wagoner in the box, he quickly turned, and rolled a hard low shot to the left and past Moxom.

The Panthers made methodical attempts to crack Penn’s defense to start the second half, executing crisp passes around midfield as they tried to find an opening to attack. Freshman midfielder Miguel Bertran managed Pitt’s first shot on goal 57 minutes in, then Quakers striker Stas Korzeniowski broke wide open the opposite way.

Photo courtesy Matt Ralph / Philadelphia Soccer Now

Panthers’ defender Niklas Soerensen hustled to catch Korzeniowski, cutting off his angle as he shuttled him to the right of the net and helping Moxom make the save.

Pitt began to press with urgency after the 70 minute mark. Their best chance at the equalizer came off the foot of Casper Svendby, who barely missed despite a long distance shot.

 

Moxom again kept the Panthers in the game with a spectacular stretching save with less than ten minutes to go, answering a Quakers’ breakaway, but Penn’s defense held fast against the tiring Panthers in order to seal the shutout.

With the loss, Pitt falls to 3-1-0 on the season. It was the season opener for the reigning Ivy League champs.

Pitt will open ACC play on the road against new blood SMU at 8 p.m. on Saturday, September 7.

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