Pitt, Lafayette Play To Scoreless Draw

September 18, 2014

PITTSBURGH – Wednesday night’s matchup between Pitt and Lafayette was a evenly-played defensive effort on both sides of the pitch, as the contest ended in a scoreless draw at Ambrose Urbanic Field on Sept. 17.

Pitt (2-2-1) remains undefeated at home in two games this year (1-0-1) and is 9-4-5 in non-conference tilts since 2012.

Both teams had plenty of opportunities in the 110-minute affair with a combined 32 shots on the night, however only 11 were on goal and keepers Dan Lynd and Sandy Leavy were rarely tested on those chances. Lynd finished the night with a season-high seven saves for his fifth career clean sheet while Leavy knocked away three shots.

In the final seconds of each overtime, both teams had a chance to end the game on the spot. It was Lafayette (1-3-2) at the conclusion of the first overtime when Chandler Fraser-Pauls was wide-open in the box with 18 seconds left. As he was getting a shot off, Pitt defender sophomore Stephane Pierre came across and blocked the attempt with a sliding tackle to help preserve the shutout.

Pitt’s looked to win the game with just under 30 seconds to go in the second overtime after junior Andrew Wright sent a pass from the left side to junior Patrick Dixon, who got a diving head on the ball. But Leavy made the save, which ended the night for both teams.

Lafayette (1-3-2) had the first good look in the game, which came in the 20th minute. Greg Biggiani went one-on-one with a Pitt defender in the box, but a contested sliding tackle forced his shot over the crossbar. Five minutes later Ben Marks narrowly missed a shot wide left. For the remaining 20 minutes of the half there was only one more shot, which was recorded by the Leopards, as they went into the break with a 7-4 advantage in shots.

The second half was just as even as the first with Pitt showing a bit more urgency. However, it was Lafayette who tested Lynd early. In the 48th minute, Biggiani centered a pass to Eric West. Despite the pass being a bit behind West, he still got a foot on it from close range, but without much power on the shot Lynd was able to make the easy stop.

Two corner kicks in the 54th minute, one from each side, gave the Panthers time in the offensive third of the field to begin the second half. The second corner, off the foot of sophomore Romeo Charron, wound up with Wright. He fired a shot that ended up going directly into a Lafayette defender, who was down on the ground by the near post, and away from the goal.

With time winding down in regulation, the squads traded looks in the 75th and 78th minutes. First was the Leopards who had a free kick from about 23 yards out in the center of the field. Ryan Egan’s shot, however, was stuffed by the Panthers wall. Three minutes later on Pitt’s fourth and final corner of the game, senior Chu Chu Onyeukwu’s header went wide of the net.

Proving how evenly the teams were matched, within the final 10 minutes each squad gave their final effort of regulation. Freshman Hamish Law sent a beautiful through ball to redshirt Cory Werth into the box. Werth got a sliding shot off, but couldn’t get enough power to push it by the keeper.

With the final seconds ticking down Lafayette was awarded a corner kick. After Pitt cleared out the original ball, Andrew Gonzalez took a shot from 10 yards inside the midfield line. Lynd made the initial stop and wasn’t able to control the ball, but was able to secure it as the horn sounded, sending the game into overtime.

In the extra session, Lafayette outshot Pitt 6-1, including four in the second overtime. But with only one shot on goal for each team, there was never much of a threat.

Overall the Leopards ended the game with a 20-12 shot advantage while Pitt held a slight 4-2 edge in corner kicks.

The Panthers continue their homestand when NC State comes to town for an Atlantic Coast Conference clash on Saturday, Sept. 20 at 7 p.m.