No. 3 Pitt Defeats Lehigh at Home, 2-1

Friday, September 3

Pittsburgh, Pa.

7 PM

Pitt

2-1-0, 0-0-0

Lehigh

0-3-0, 0-0-0

Lehigh

Pittsburgh

Photo by: Matt Hawley/Pitt Athletics

No. 3 Pitt Defeats Lehigh at Home, 2-1

9/3/2021 10:10:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score Photo Gallery

PITTSBURGH – The No. 3 Pitt men's soccer team held off a late Lehigh attack and defeated the Mountain Hawks, 2-1, at Ambrose Urbanic Field Friday evening.

NEWS & NOTES

Junior Veljko Petkovic scored the first goal of the contest in the 45^th minute, his third of the season. The midfielder has eight points in three games so far this year.
Senior Rodrigo Almeida added Pitt's second goal in the 76^th minute, his second of the season.
Graduate student Jasper Löeffelsend tallied two assists for his second multi-assist game of his career. He is now tied for fifth in career assists at Pitt with 13.

"It took us awhile to find ourselves tonight," said head coach Jay Vidovich. "We ran into a very worthy opponent who challenged us early and didn't make it easy but it was a test our team needed."

Pitt (2-1) nearly took the lead in the third minute, as graduate student Alexander Dexter missed narrowly wide right from eight yards out. Graduate student goalkeeper Nico Campuzano kept the match scoreless, as Lehigh's (0-3) Josh Luchini had a breakaway opportunity but was stopped by an outstretched Campuzano. Mountain Hawk Perry Kingson gathered the rebound but missed the second attempt high above the cross bar.

The Panthers put pressure on the Lehigh defense late in the first half as both Almeida and Petkovic put shots on goal, both of which were saved by Noah Sutherland. Pitt was able to break through the defense late, as sophomore Filip Mirkovic sent a long through ball to Löeffelsend down the right side, who crossed it into the middle to Petkovic for the goal.

Petkovic Precision ?

The junior scores his third goal of the year, as Jasper Löeffelsend and Filip Mirkovic each tally an assist.#H2P pic.twitter.com/k7R0iqtLq1
— Pitt Men's Soccer (@Pitt_MSOC) September 4, 2021

Pitt outshot the Mountain Hawks, 10-3, and led 5-0 in corner kicks after 45 minutes.

The Panthers kept the pressure high offensively early in the second half, totaling four shots in an 11 minute stretch. In the 76^th minute, Löeffelsend found Almeida from above the box, who made a quick move to his left and struck a low ball with his left foot for the goal.

Rodrigo with some left foot POWER?

Jasper Löeffelsend with his second assist tonight!#H2P pic.twitter.com/qGxn24hgIJ
— Pitt Men's Soccer (@Pitt_MSOC) September 4, 2021

Lehigh cut the lead to one goal in the 86^th minute, as Bratislav Petkovic, the older brother of Veljko Petkovic, connected with the back of the net from 15 yards out. Pitt held the Mountain Hawks to zero shots in the remaining four minutes and held on for the 2-1 victory.

Pitt outshot Lehigh 16-5 for the night and finished with a 6-1 advantage in corner kicks. Campuzano recorded one save for his 18^th career win.

No. 3 Pitt is back in action Monday evening at No. 19 Akron. Start time is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.