Hannesdottir Nets Game-Winner in OT for Pitt

October 14, 2015

PITTSBURGH – The Pitt women’s soccer team (10-3-1, 4-2-0 ACC) returned to the win column Sunday afternoon as the Panthers claimed their third overtime victory of the season after taking down ACC-foe Syracuse (5-10-1, 0-6-0 ACC), 1-0.

Sophomore midfielder Hanna Hannesdottir scored the game-winning goal for the Panthers in the 99th minute off a penalty kick, netting her first goal of the season.

“I knew it was going to be a war,” head coach Greg Miller said. “Syracuse was coming in looking for a win, and we were trying to rebound from Thursday. It was going to be a battle of wills. I knew Syracuse was going to cause us some fits. We allowed them too many times to turn and face and run at us, but I thought for the most that we did a good job of managing that.”

Pitt had multiple scoring opportunities throughout the match as the team attempted 13 total shots, eight of which were on goal. The Panthers also earned eight corner kicks, while Syracuse had two. After a scoreless 90 minutes, Pitt entered overtime for the fifth time this season.

“Once again we are creating chances and not doing our job of finishing them,” Miller said. “I told the team right after regulation that we have been here before. We just have to rely on experience. We’ve got to make sure we continue to be safe in the back and our moment is going to come. We just have to continue to persevere, and that’s exactly what happened.”

After almost a completely scoreless match, it all came down to a penalty kick from Hannesdottir.

“Roosa [Arvas] is usually our penalty kicker, but we have several others that practice them on a regular basis,” Miller said. “I just left it to the team as to who wanted it and Hanna wanted it. I’m not surprised that she finished it because she trains for it.”

That training paid off as Hannesdottir put in the goal with just 1:23 left on the clock.

Junior goalkeeper Taylor Francis earned her seventh shutout of the 2015 season and 10th in her career. Francis holds on to her top spot in the ACC in season shutouts and third-best in program career shutouts.

Following today’s match, the Panthers hit the road for their next three games. Pitt will first visit Clemson on Friday, Oct. 16, for a 7 p.m. kickoff at Riggs Field. The team will then head to Duke (Oct. 22) and Virginia Tech (Oct. 25) before returning to Pittsburgh for the final game of the regular season.