University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt
5-6-0 (1-2-0)
Syracuse
4-5-3 (1-2-0)
Women's Soccer Registers First ACC Win, Defeats Syracuse 1-0
9/28/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
SYRACUSE, N.Y.—A penalty kick goal by junior Roosa Arvas in the 84th minute gave the Pitt women’s soccer team a 1-0 shutout win over Syracuse Sunday at the SU Soccer Stadium. The win marks Pitt’s first-ever ACC victory. With the win, Pitt improves to 5-6-0 overall and 1-2-0 in ACC play. Syracuse drops to 4-5-3 overall and 1-2-0 in the ACC.
After the two teams played 84:11 scoreless minutes, Pitt was awarded a penalty kick after freshman Taylor Pryce was pushed and fouled in the penalty box by a Syracuse defender. Arvas sent her shot past Syracuse goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan for the 1-0 Pitt lead. Before the foul, Pitt was playing well and threatening with two consecutive corner kicks. The penalty kick goal at the 84:11 mark ranked as the eighth latest goal to give Pitt a win in school history.
“Credit our team because we found a way to win after not playing well in the first half,” Pitt coach Greg Miller said. “It was a tale of two halves. On Thursday at Boston College, we played well and lost; today we didn’t play as well and won. Coming off Thursday’s performance, we were tired and mentally fatigued. We were very lucky to get out of the first half not down at least one goal. At halftime, we said ‘look you’ve got to fight through the physical and mental fatigue.’ We also had tactical things to adjust. We had to be more physical since Syracuse had won the physical battle. It took us a little while to get going in the second half. As the half wore on, we started to wear them down. We became the aggressor and get more chances, more corners and more opportunities. We had a set piece that we scored on but we were called offsides. Then, Taylor Pryce got her foot on the ball and got pushed over and went down in the box. Roosa scored and we just closed it out. It was a difficult Sunday game a little bit ugly, but tale of two halves. We were the better team in the second half.”
“A win and three points in this league is hard to come by. To do it in a road game and on a Sunday against a team that we’re familiar with in Syracuse is special.”
In the first half, Pitt’s defense led by goalkeeper Taylor Francis, rose to the occasion. Francis, who finished the day with five saves in registering her third shutout of the year, made three key first half plays.
“Taylor was huge again today,” Miller said. “She saved us. She made three huge saves, two of them were on Syracuse breakaways. She kept us in the game in first half when we did not play as well. Roosa (Arvas) had a great game up front, holding onto the ball and creating chance and getting other people linked up. Jackie Poucel had another stellar performance in the back. It was a team win.”
The goal marked Arvas’ 12th career goal, seventh career game-winning goal and first-ever collegiate penalty kick score. She now has 36 career points and ranks fifth on Pitt’s all-time career points list. On the year, Arvas leads the Panthers in nearly every offensive category including goals scored (seven), points (15), shots (30), shots on goal (17) and now penalty kick goals (1-1). It also marked her team-leading fourth game winning goal. Already, her seven goals on the season ranks tied for the fourth-most in school history and her 12 career goals rank tied for sixth on the all-time career list.
The game saw only 13 shots, seven by Syracuse and six by Pitt. Pitt had four corner kick opportunities to the Orange’s three.
Pitt is back in action at North Carolina State on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. ET.
—PITT—
Team Stats
Roosa Arvas
UP Roosa Arvas PENALTY KICK GOAL.
84:11
