Bradford, PA -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford returned home on Wednesday for a tough non-conference matchup with Goucher. The Panthers Fell behind early and struggled to keep pace with the Gophers, eventually falling 19-5.
The first five minutes of the contest passed with no major events as Hunter Shank made four early saves and picked up a ground ball to keep the game scoreless through nearly 6 minutes of action. The Panthers were unable to hold off the Gophers for long, however, as the visitors opened the scoring with 9:03 left in the quarter, and then doubled the lead less than two minutes later. They continued to maintain pressure and quickly scored two more goals without the Panthers gaining possession of the ball. The visitors eventually pushed their advantage to 7 before the Panthers beat the buzzer to get on the scoreboard. After making a save, Shank found Rocco Fera escaping the defensive zone and hit him with an outlet pass that sent him into the offensive half. The freshman midfielder sprinted toward the goal and dropped a pass to Luke Amberman, who caught the pass and whipped a shot into the net as the buzzer sounded to end the period.
The Gophers matched the late goal just over a minute into the second quarter, using a man-up advantage to restore their 7-goal edge. On the ensuing faceoff, the Panthers found themselves a man down after another penalty. Pitt-Bradford was able to kill off the second penalty, and used a long pass from Shank to clear the defensive half. 60 seconds into the resulting possession, Logan Watts picked out Amberman on the left wing. The Freshman attacker collected the pass and, with a Gopher defender approaching, bounced a shot past the goalie for his second of the game. It would be the last score for the Panthers in the half, as the Gophers maintained possession for the majority of the final 12 minutes of the half and took a 16-2 advantage into the break.
The Panthers' offensive woes continued in the second half, as they struggled to successfully stop the Gophers and clear the zone, and when they did, could not create any clear scoring chances. Goucher tacked on three more goals and led 19-2 heading into the final quarter.
In the fourth, the Panthers were able to close the game on a high note, scoring three unanswered goals. Reid Kristufek scored the first, finding the net 34 seconds after the restart. The junior midfielder caught a pass at the top of the zone, ducked underneath an oncoming defender, and fired a low shot into the side of the goal. A few minutes later, the Panthers took advantage of a Goucher offside penalty to score their fourth of the game. Pitt-Bradford passed the ball around the edge of the attacking zone until Watts went back against the grain to Amberman on the left side. The freshman caught the pass and whipped a high shot into the upper corner for his third of the game. With two minutes left in the game, the Panthers closed the scoring with their fifth of the game. After turning the ball over with a pass through the defense, Watts stayed with the play and intercepted a pass from the Gophers that was headed back to the goal. He caught the pass and immediately beat the unsuspecting goalie with a shot for his first and only goal of the contest.
Luke Amberman led the Panther offensive effort, scoring three goals to bring his season total to 31. He took 10 shots in the loss, putting 6 on target. Logan Watts added one goal, while also tallying a pair of assists. Reid Kristufek scored the other goal for Pitt-Bradford, while Rocco Fera recorded an assist. Hunter Shank faced a multitude of shots from the Gophers, and despite the high score, still tallied 22 saves for Pitt-Bradford.
The loss drops Pitt-Bradford to 6-3 on the season. They will be back in action at home this weekend, when they take on Augustana in the second game of a doubleheader with the women's team. The action begins at approximately 4:00 p.m.
