Bradford, PA -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford men's soccer team opened its home slate on Wednesday, hosting Keystone College at Rathburn Family Field. The Panthers defeated the Giants 2-0 in the contest.
Pitt-Bradford grabbed momentum early, maintaining a large chunk of possession and was able to take the first three shots of the game. Despite the early possession, it was the visitors who nearly went in front. In the 23rd minute, Christopher House made a diving save on a free kick, but parried the ball into the path of a Keystone attacker. The player quickly shot into the net, but was deemed to be offside at the time of the shot, nullifying the goal. After half an hour of play, the Panthers were finally able to open the scoring in the 32nd minute. Kyle Carlsen curled a path behind the defense for Bailee Verdill on the right wing. The Junior attacker sprinted toward the goal and placed a shot into the far corner. It was his 2nd goal of the season.
In the second half, the Panthers had two early chances that nearly saw them double the advantage. In the 50th, Verdill's shot from the flank was deflected, but striker Brady Hathaway was blocked off by a defender and could not push a shot towards goal. 12 minutes later, Hathaway had another chance. Yihao Xu beat a defender down the left flank and rolled a pass back to Hathaway near the 18. Hathaway took a one-time shot but saw his effort saved by a diving keeper.
After the Giants had another potential score called off for offside, Pitt-Bradford went on the attack. In the 73rd, Xu nearly doubled the lead as he dribbled through the defense and whipped a shot towards the goal, only to see it rebound off the crossbar. The Panthers regained possession and doubled the advantage less than a minute later. Verdill crossed the ball to the far post, where Xu played a one-touch pass to the edge of the box. Freshman midfielder Zhennan Sun hit a half-volley shot into the side netting to put the Panthers ahead 2-0. The goal was the first of his collegiate career. Verdill, Carlsen, and Daniel Hartman all put shots on goal over the final 15 minutes, but saw all of their efforts stopped.
Pitt-Bradford outshot Keystone 15-3 in the game. Verdill led the way with 5 shots, including 2 on goal. He tallied his second goal of the season and also picked up a secondary assist on the other goal. Zhennan Sun scored his first collegiate goal, taking 3 shots in the game. Yihao Xu and Kyle Carlsen each picked up an assist in the game. Christopher House made 3 saves for his 2nd shutout of the season.
The win moves the Panthers to 2-2-1 on the season. They will be back in action on Saturday, when they head to Syracuse to take on SUNY ESF. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m.
