Hiram, OH -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's soccer team traveled to Ohio on Wednesday, as they took on Hiram. The Panthers fell behind early and were not able to find the back of the net, falling 5-0 to the Terriers.
The Panthers successfully defended a corner in the opening minutes of the game, and after settling into the game, had the first chance of the contest. 9 minutes in, Mya King was able to beat a defender on the left wing. She whipped a low cross into the box where Lauren Donnelly met it with a one-time shot. Donnelly's effort nearly beat the goalkeeper but was knocked away, keeping the game scoreless.
Pitt-Bradford would rue the missed opportunity, as the hosts were able to open the scoring 4 minutes later. The Terriers beat the offside trap with a through ball and went on the break. The Hiram attacker collected the ball behind the Panther defense and calmly slid a shot into the far corner to go ahead 1-0. Five minutes later, Hiram doubled the advantage with a one-time finish on a cross from the right wing.
In the 35th minute, the Panthers nearly got on the scoresheet again. Tessa Duchi collected a pass 25 yards from the goal, and after turning towards the target, released a left-footed shot towards the top corner. Duchi put the shot on goal, but it was parried away by an outstretched keeper. After the resulting corner, Hiram went on the counterattack. After the first effort was stopped, a Terrier midfielder hit a pass behind the defense that an attacker was able to reach on the breakaway and score to push their advantage to three at the break.
Hiram continued to pressure the Pantehr goal to begin the second stanza. After 7 minutes, they added to their lead. Once again, they were able to get behind the high line of the Panther defense and go on a breakaway. The hosts continued their attack and scored one more goal in the 56th. Orinko made a save on a shot from the left flank, but could not hold onto it, and an attacker took advantage, quickly shooting the loose ball into the open net.
Orinko made another save and got help from the woodwork to keep the deficit from growing before the Panthers had another chance to score. In the final half hour, the Panthers had multiple corners and three opportunities to score. Mya King had the first, hitting a shot from distance that was caught by the Hiram keeper. Minutes later, Ellie King ran onto a pass behind the defense and released an early shot, but the Hiram goalkeeper did well to rush out of the net, cut down the angle, and make a save. With just over two minutes remaining, Yeager found more space on the right and moved toward goal. She tried to catch the keeper cheating towards a cross, firing a shot toward the near post, but the Terrier netminder recovered and parried the shot away for a corner.
Ellie Yeager led the Panthers with 3 shots in the game, putting two on target. Lauren Donnelly, Tessa Duchi, and Mya King all had dangerous shots on goal stopped by acrobatic saves from the opponent keeper. Josie Orinko tallied 3 saves in the loss.
The Panthers drop their 4th straight and are now 1-4 on the season. They will look to get back into the win column on Tuesday, when they host Penn State-Beaver in their final tune-up before conference play. Kickoff is slated for 5:00 p.m. at Rathburn Family Field.
