Keera Melenhorst’s wonder strike pulls Pitt even with No. 6 Stanford

ACC Women’s Soccer 

FINAL: Pitt 1, Stanford 1

Match Stats

Pitt earned a 1-1 draw against No. 6 Stanford Sunday afternoon at Cagan Stadium as Keera Melenhorst netted a first half equalizer after the Cardinal jumped out to a 1-0 lead.

Mt. Lebanon native Mia Bhuta scored Stanford’s goal in the 19th minute.

The Panthers move to 7-3-2 overall and 1-2-1 in ACC play, while Stanford is now 10-1-1 (2-1-1 ACC).

HOW IT HAPPENED

Pitt grabbed control of the run of play earlier in the contest and had the first opportunity of the day on a Deborah Abiodun header off a Sarah Schupansky corner in the eighth minute. Abiodun’s attempt from 12 yards out cleared the keeper but went just high and settled into the top of the cage.

Pitt withstood a pair of attempts by Stanford in the 14^th minute as Ellie Breech smothered strike off a loose ball in the box and saw a rebound attempt sail high and wide of the frame.

Stanford grabbed a 1-0 at the 18:10 mark on Pittsburgh native Mia Bhuta’s header off a corner feed from Jasmine AIkey.

One against the hometown team 🏠

Pittsburgh native @miabhuta delivered Stanford's goal in a 1-1 draw with Pitt on Sunday.#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/qqtn7oE3pO

— Stanford Women's Soccer (@StanfordWSoccer) September 30, 2024

Samiah Phiri nearly provided the equalizer in the 25^th minute with a driving shot from the left wing that was curling to the back box that forced a lunging save by Haley Craig to deflect it off a free Pitt runner and just outside the post.

Pitt pushed forward on the attack and knotted the contest at 1-1 with a bar down goal from 20 yards out by Melenhorst. Schupansky found senior forward in the center of the field just outside the box and Melenhorst used a nice turn over her right shoulder to beat a Stanford defender and bang home her fourth goal of the season.

.@keeramelenhorst ARE YOU SERIOUS 🤯

The Panthers are looking for more in the second half!

📺: ACCNX#H2P pic.twitter.com/2x3C32x3gv

— Pitt Women's Soccer (@Pitt_WSOC) September 29, 2024

The two teams entered the halftime break square at 1-1 following an evenly played opening 45 minutes. The Cardinal had a slight edge in shots, 5-4,

Pitt came out of the half generating a pair of attempts in the opening five minutes as Schupansky found Abiodun on a cross from the left end line for a sliding attempt that sailed high and wide. She also found Ellie Coffield on an open run off a free kick from 35-yards out. Coffield’s running header from 15 yards out was curling towards the back post but finished just wide of target.

Breech made a stop on a long thru ball before a collision led to an officials review for a potential penalty. Pitt maintained possession on the restart and immediately generated a scoring opportunity

Phiri worked her way across the box from the right wing and ripped a left foot strike that Craig made a leaping stab to punch it off the cross bar.  Pitt had opportunity on the ensuing corner with a header that went high as the game opened up into a back-and-forth of attack and counter-attack.

Pitt had seven shots in the opening 15 minutes of the second half, while its defense continued to limit Stanford’s ability to maintain possession.

Neither team managed to generate much consistency over the middle 30 minutes as the physicality picked up from both teams and the pace of play slowed.

Breech made a big play in the 84^th minute coming out to dive on a heavy touch off a thru ball from the midfield to keep the score locked up at 1-1.

The 88^th minute turned into a scrum at the top of the Pitt box as the panthers blocked a pair of shot attempts and Breech punched out a cross attempt.

Schupansky had a solid attempt from 25 yards out with just over a minute remaining, but Craig was able to coral a dipping shot to preserve the tie.

Pitt finished with a 13-10 edge in shots (5-2 SOG), including a 9-5 advantage in the second half of play.

MATCH NOTES 

• Pitt scored just the fourth goal on Stanford on the season as the Cardinal entered the match ranked in the top 10 in the country in goals against average (3rd – 0.27), save percentage (9th – .893), and shutout percentage (7th – .727) …
• Melenhorst’s goal was the first against Stanford in 2:48:18 of game action, dating back to the first half of its match against Wake Forest (Sept. 19).
• The Panthers are 5-7-2 in their past 14 matches against ranked opponents. Pitt is 0-1-2 this season against teams ranked in the top 25 of the United Soccer Coaches Poll .. six of Pitt’s nine wins over ranked opponents in program history have come under head coach Randy Waldrum.

UP NEXT

The Panthers returns from its West Coast trip to host Clemson (Thursday, Oct. 6) and Syracuse (Sunday, Oct. 13) next week in a pair of key ACC contests.