Late Red Card Sinks Pitt Men’s Soccer’s Hopes of a Winning Streak

Hosting a shaky Wake Forest team and fresh off their best offensive performance of the season, Pitt Men’s Soccer had a prime opportunity to generate positive momentum in their final home game of the season on Friday, Oct. 24. 

Instead, the Panthers (5-6-4, 1-4-2 ACC) gave up the tying goal while playing down a man at 88’ and played to a 1-1 draw, the latest bump in the road for a team that entered the season with national championship hopes but just hasn’t been able to put it all together. 

Much like their game against Syracuse the previous week, the Panthers put together a flurry of chances, making 15 shot attempts and putting seven of those on net. Ten attempts came in the opening half, including a dangerous volley less than 90 seconds in, set up by a penalty kick from Arnau Vilamitjana, fresh off his first collegiate hat trick. 

Demon Deacons goalkeeper Jonah Mednard operated like a brick wall, however, sprawling to stop Vilamitjana and regaining his feet in time to bat away rebound tries from Vilamitjana and Lasse Dahl.

Mednard blanked Pitt until the 71st minute, their penultimate shot of the game. At that moment, the redshirt sophomore showed his youth, trying to outmaneuver Panthers midfielder Grayson Carter instead of falling on the ball or booting it away.

Mednard’s attempt to clear trickled awkwardly into the lap of Albert Thorsen, and the canny forward wasted no time depositing it in the back of the net. To that point, the Panthers were the only team to maintain any offensive pressure. 

Wake Forest made just four shot attempts in the first 80 minutes of play, none of which found their way on net, but Niklas Sørensen received a red card in the 84th minute, committing a foul to prevent a clear goal scoring opportunity and forcing the Panthers to play with just ten men in the waning minutes.

The Demon Deacons seized their opportunity, sustaining a volley and putting their first shot on goal — a Jack Moxom save — with just over five minutes to play. Moxom blocked away the next shot he faced, setting up a corner kick. There Wake Forest managed to solve him, a header from Harvey Sarajian amidst a throng of bodies that he had no chance of stopping. 

Pitt Men’s Soccer (sans Sørensen) will play their regular season finale at Louisville beginning at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 31. They currently hold the No. 12 spot in the 15-team ACC, which would put them in line to face the No. 5 team in the opening round of the conference tournament, set to take place on Wednesday, Nov. 5.

Griffin Floyd