Alfred, NY -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford men's soccer team saw its season come to an end on Saturday as they fell to Alfred State 4-1 in the First Round of the AMCC Championship Tournament.

The Panthers kept their defensive shape early, limiting the hosts to just two off-target shots over the opening 15 minutes. Kyle Carlsen put the first shot on target for the Panthers in the 16th minute. The Junior midfielder chipped in a long effort from 25 yards away, but had his shot caught in the goal. He put another shot on target in the 24th minute, as he hit a curled effort around the wall that was parried away for a corner kick. In the 35th, the Pioneers were finally able to break through the Panther defense, scoring the opener at 34:27. The Panther defense was beaten on the left flank and then failed to clear away a low cross. The Pioneers reacted first to the lost ball and slid a shot through traffic into the far corner to go ahead 1-0. Christopher House made a save in the final minute of the half to keep the deficit at 1. 

The Panthers had the first shot of the 2nd half, as Cole Holland blasted a long-range effort over the goal, and then used a goal-line stop from Cole Rudsell to keep the deficit at 1 under a minute later. 5 minutes in, Holden Kelly found space on the left side of the box, but his near-post shot was stopped. 3 mintues later, the hosts doubled their lead. In the 58th minute, Alfred State's leading scorer hit a low shot that caught House on the wrong foot, beating the keeper to his left for the 2nd of the game. 

The hosts continued to push after the second goal, but the Panthers stayed resolute defensively, keeping the deficit at two for the next 20 minutes. In the 81st minute, the Panthers failed to handle a low cross once again, and the Pioneers took advantage, pushing their lead to three after placing a shot in the far corner. The Panthers came right back, however, and scored just 25 seconds after the restart. After Bailee Verdill had a shot parried away, Zander Parsons collected the rebound and passed to Carlsen at the edge of the six-yard box. Carlsen fired a one-time shot into the open goal, quickly cutting the deficit back to two. Unfortunately for the Panthers, they were only able to muster one more shot in the final 8 minutes, and the hosts added their 4th with just over a minute to go to close out the game.

Kyle Carlsen scored the only goal for the Panthers. It was his 3rd of the season. He led the Panthers with 4 shots, putting 3 on target. Zander Parsons picked up the assist on the goal. Bailee Verdill and Holden Kelly each finished with 2 shots. Christopher House made 3 saves in the loss. 

The Panthers finish their season with a 7-10-1 record.