No. 8 Virginia Downs Pitt

Thursday, October 6

Charlottesville, Va.

7:00 PM

Pitt

1-11-1, 0-5-0ACC

Virginia

9-2-2, 2-1-2ACC

Pitt

Virginia

10/6/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

Box Score

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - Traveling to the eight-ranked Virginia Cavaliers to face their fourth-straight nationally ranked opponent in as many outings, the University of Pittsburgh women's soccer team dropped a 6-0 decision in Charlottesville, Va., Thursday afternoon.

"I thought the first two goals that we gave up were very sloppy, Taylor mishandled a routine save, which is very uncharacteristic of her and then in the second goal, a free kick went right through our wall, which is also very uncharacteristic of us," said head coach Greg Miller. "It just kind of unraveled from there. Virginia is a very good team. I thought their movement was very good and we were just doing a lot of chasing for the entire game."

Pitt was unable to must any offense as the Cavaliers dominated from the start, as Virginia has won all four meetings over the Panthers in the history of the series.

An unfortunate goal, which trickled through the legs of senior goalkeeper Taylor Francis would set the tone for the first half of action as the Cavaliers took a 1-0 advantage in the 15th minute. Taylor Ziemer knocked the ball in from 12 yards out with an assist to Alissa Gorzak.

In the 22nd minute Alexis Shaffer would connect on a pass from Ziemer for her sixth goal of the season, sneaking the ball in the top left corner of the cage. Just 78 seconds later, Virginia would extend its lead to 3-0 as Shaffer netted her second of the game. The senior would send a free kick to the bottom left corner of the net for her seventh goal of the year.

The Pitt offense struggled in the first half, as the Cavaliers out-shot the Panthers 14-0. Virginia recorded six shots on net, as Francis was able to capture three saves. Virginia received the only corner kick of the half, as they were whistled for five shots, compared to just three for the Panthers.

Virginia would continue its offensive explosion just minutes into the second half as Ziemer recorded her second of the game on a long shot, which bounced off the crossbar and over the fingertips of Francis. Less than two minutes later, Shaffer would complete the hat trick for her eighth goal of the season to give the Cavaliers a 5-0 advantage.

Pitt's first shot of the game came 52nd minute as a header by Christiana Davey would go wide of the net.

The Cavaliers would conclude the scoring in the 68th minute as a converted penalty kick from Morgan Reuther would give the eighth-ranked Cavaliers a 6-0 victory.

On the evening, Virginia out-shot Pitt by a margin of 29-3 with a 15-0 shot on goal differential. Francis was forced to make nine saves.

"I think in years past we've been kind of enamored by the name 'Virginia' and that's predisposition us a little going into the game, thinking that we didn't have a chance," added Miller. "I don't think we had a lot of fear this year, I think the fear came as the game went on because we couldn't handle the pressure and we panicked a little bit. We mishandled the ball and carelessly gave it away or would play too slow and we just didn't do a good enough job of composing ourselves and trying to settle down the play at any point. Psychologically, it's hard for us to dig out of that."

With the loss, Pitt falls to 1-11-1 on the season and 0-5-0 in the ACC. The Panthers will return to action on Sunday as they welcome Miami (FL) to Ambrose Urbanic Field for a 1 p.m. tilt.

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