Pitt men’s soccer survives late Louisville comeback effort courtesy of Luis Sahmkow’s brace

Pitt Men’s Soccer survived a nail biter against Louisville on Friday night, pulling out a 3-2 win behind a pair of goals from senior striker Luis Sahmkow for their second conference victory in a row.

The Panthers (5-1) opened the scoring at 18’ when Louisville goalkeeper Harvey Sellers couldn’t corral a sharp angle shot down the left flank. The rebound trickled out into the box and senior midfielder Guilherme Feitosa pounced on it, targeting the top right corner for the one-timer goal.

Let's go, @gc_feitosa 😎

📺 https://t.co/qS9Yfzi788 https://t.co/86IqnysSAN pic.twitter.com/Smf6fqKuoW

— Pitt Men's Soccer (@Pitt_MSOC) September 13, 2024

The Panthers drew a penalty kick eight minutes later, with Sahmkow redirecting Sellers on the try: Sellers dove left and Sahmkow kicked right, making it look easy as Pitt opened a two goal lead.

Let's go, @gc_feitosa 😎

📺 https://t.co/qS9Yfzi788 https://t.co/86IqnysSAN pic.twitter.com/Smf6fqKuoW

— Pitt Men's Soccer (@Pitt_MSOC) September 13, 2024

Pace of play opened up dramatically in the second half, with the Cardinals’ need to push facing a 2-0 deficit creating more opportunities in both directions.

It was Louisville who scored next, however, with Gaetano D’Argento bicycle kicking with his left foot past Pitt keeper Carter Cabral, the cherry on top of a neat passing relay.

Sahmkow almost extended the Panthers’ lead at 74, barely missing a feed from Casper Grening, but he made good on his next opportunity. Sprinting through a pair of Louisville defenders on a long pass from Miguel Bertran—Sahmkow had to slow up to avoid an offsides call, kicking into low gear and skirting around them—he battled down to the right side of the box before kicking left past Sellers.

https://twitter.com/pitt_msoc/status/1834760842761715991?s=46&t=YudxU6kRtHrvEctSDcskLg

Louisville wasn’t done yet, though, again executing crisp passes through traffic and keeping their eyes on the ball, pulling within one goal with five minutes left to play. The Cardinals managed just one shot, an 87th minute miss, as Pitt closed out the win.

Pitt Men’s Soccer will next take the pitch at 7pm on Tuesday, September 17, facing Cleveland State on the road.