No. 5 Pitt Powers Past Howard Monday Night, 5-0

Monday, August 28

Pittsburgh, PA

7 PM

Pitt

1-0-1, 0-0-0

Howard

0-1-0, 0-0-0

Howard

Pittsburgh

No. 5 Pitt Powers Past Howard Monday Night, 5-0

8/28/2023 9:51:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score Season Stats Photo Gallery

PITTSBURGH – The No. 5 Pitt men's soccer team (1-0-1, 0-0-0 ACC) notched their first win of the 2023 campaign Monday night as they collected a dominant 5-0 victory over the Howard Bison at Ambrose Urbanic Field. Pitt had five different goal scorers in the victory including three who scored their first career goal in the win.

ESSENTIAL GAME INFO
Pitt starting XI: Cabral Carter, Jackson Gilman, Raphael Cilli, Fabian Grau, Felipe Mercado, Albert Thorsen, Guilherme Feitosa, Mateo Maillefaud, Noah Hall, Luis Sahmkow, Michael Sullivan
Howard starting XI: JR Gawel, Roy Henderson, Jahsiah Acosta, Chayton Kuidlan, Christian Rufael, Jackson Lewis, Alex Taylor, Brandon Franklin, Abdullah Ajirafi, Ezekiel Agyemang, Peter Gansallo
Records: Pitt (1-0-1, 0-0-0 ACC) | Howard (0-1-0, 0-0-0 NEC)
Location: Ambrose Urbanic Field | Pittsburgh, PA
Attendance: 734

SCORING INFO

Pitt Goals: Albert Thorsen (2), Fabian Grau (1), Luis Sahmkow (1), Zahir Dyke (1), Luka Kozomara (1)
Pitt Assists: Felipe Mercado (1), Mateo Maillefaud (1), Jackson Gilman (1), Massimo Murania (1)

HOW IT HAPPENED – FIRST HALF

The Panthers had the first shot of the match in the second minute as Albert Thorsen found Guilherme Feitosa at the top of the box but his hard shot skyed over the bar and out of play.
Pitt broke through with the opening goal in the 11^th minute as Thorsen took the feed from Felipe Mercado and buried the ball into the right corner of the net to make it 1-0 in favor of Pitt.
Just over eight minutes later, Fabian Grau netted his first career goal as he finished off a Mateo Maillefaud cross from in tight.
Pitt pushed the lead to 3-0 in the 26^th minutes as Luis Sahmkow was dragged down in the box to earn a penalty kick. On the ensuing PK, Sahmkow buried the shot into the lower left corner for his first of the season.
In the 28^th minute, Jackson Gilman had the lower right corner pegged with a hard shot but the Howard keeper made a great diving stop to keep it 3-0 in favor of Pitt.

HOW IT HAPPENED – SECOND HALF

Howard had a good scoring chance in the 57^th minute as Nigel McCloud got free in the box but his sliding shot attempt just soared over the cage and out of play
Pitt extended their lead to 4-0 in the 83^rd minute as Zahir Dyke took a long pass from Jackson Gilman and beat the keeper to the upper left corner for the first of his collegiate career
Pitt made it 5-0 in the 8^th minute as Luka Kozomara streaked down the right side and beat the keeper to the lower right corner for his first as a Panther. Freshman Massimo Murania collected his first career point with the assist

MATCH STATS

Pitt held the 22-2 lead in shots and the 4-0 lead in corner kicks in the win
Thorsen led all players with five shots (three on goal) while Guilherme Feitosa finished his night with four shots (three on goal)
In total, 12 Panthers recorded at least one shot in the win
Cabral Carter finished off his night with one save
JR Gawel finished off the loss for Howard with seven saves

MATCH NOTES

With the win, Pitt is now 8-3-0 all-time against the Bison while winning three straight in the series by a combined score of 16-0
The Panthers improve to 33-4-6 at home since 2019, the best mark in the ACC and the seventh best winning percentage in the country over the span
Grau netted his first collegiate goal while earning his second straight start on defense for Pitt
Thorsen netted his second goal in as many games in the win
Sahmkow finished off the penalty kick goal for his first marker of the season
Dyke netted his first career goal on his first career shot attempt
Kozomara also collected his first career goal in the win
Mercado made his first career start and also collected his first point as a Panther in the win
Maillefaud picked up his first career assist

UP NEXT

Pitt returns to action Friday afternoon for their first road match of the season as they head to Washington, DC to take on No. 17 Georgetown at 4:00 pm.