Pitt Ties Niagara, 1-1

September 23, 2014

PITTSBURGH – For the third straight game, Pitt went the distance, playing the entire 110 minutes en route to a 1-1 draw with Niagara on Tuesday, Sept. 23 at Ambrose Urbanic Field.

Pitt (2-2-3) concludes its three game homestand with its third consecutive tie and stays unbeaten at Ambrose Urbanic Field this year at 1-0-3. Niagara, which is led by former Panthers goalie and assistant coach Eric Barnes, goes to 3-4-1 on the season.

Senior Dan Prete opened the scoring less than five minutes into the second half, however an own goal by the Panthers in the 69th minute negated Pitt’s score. Prete leads Pitt with two goals on the season. Junior Kevin Fielden and freshman Raj Kahlon both tallied their first collegiate assists on the play. Fielden is the only position player from the Panthers to have played all 330 minutes over the last three games.

Junior goalkeeper Dan Lynd let up the own goal, which he had no chance defending. In the past three games, Lynd has only allowed two goals. In addition to the own goal against Niagara, he also surrendered a converted penalty kick versus NC State.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair played primarily in the middle-third of the field. Despite holding a large 8-2 advantage in shots at the break, only one shot was remotely close for the Purple Eagles as the remaining seven sailed well above the goal. In the 25 minute Julian Ekeze split by two defenders and put a shot right at Lynd, which was denied.

Earlier in the game, Prete gave a glimpse of what would happen later in the match as he nearly put the Panthers on the scoreboard three minutes into the contest. Prete challenged Niagara’s keeper Joel Gerberich to a loose ball and beat him to it. With a wide open goal, Prete only had to beat one defender, but with a tough angle wasn’t able to slip the ball by the post.

Prete wouldn’t have to wait long into the second half to redeem himself though, netting the go-ahead goal at 49:02. Kahlon dribbled up the left side of the field and fed Fielden in the center. Fielden turned and directed a pass to Prete, who one-timed a shot into the lower left corner by Gerberich for the 1-0 lead.

Pitt continued to control the second, accumulating six shots and one corner kick in the first 22 minutes of the half compared to nothing for the Purple Eagles, but nothing materialized from those opportunities.

Just two minutes after a shot from Kahlon was saved, Andrew Ferguson led Niagara in transition down the left side. He placed a pass to Callum Willmott, which was then crossed into the center of the box. Attempting to clear the ball out of bounds before an attacker caught up with the pass, sophomore Brandon Kolczynski slid into the play and instead knocked it by a defenseless Lynd for an own goal.

Another 10 minutes passed by with limited chances for each team before Pitt was knocking at the door again. Off a corner kick from redshirt junior Ryan Myers, sophomore Stephane Pierre headed the ball out of mid-air to the inside of the far post. With Gerberich nowhere to be seen, Pierre looked to have had himself a goal. However, for the second straight game, the defense held its ground and Nicholas Watson came up with the defensive save on the goal line.

Neither team had a good look before the horn signaled the end of regulation and the teams headed into extra time.

In the first overtime, each team recorded two shots, with the Panthers putting both of theirs on goal. Gerberich stopped both shots, including one off a Patrick Dixon free kick in the 99th minute.

As time drew on, the play on both sides of the field began to get sloppy. The Purple Eagles were credited with the only shot in the final overtime, but the best chance for both teams came in the remaining seconds as the clock was ticking down.

Inserted into the lineup at the beginning of the second overtime, sophomore Sam Marks was looking to make something out of nothing deep in the box with less than 30 seconds to play. He cut back on a defender and appeared to have taken down inside the box, but the referee signaled no call to the dismay of the Pitt contingent in the stands. Niagara took advantage of the broken play and was awarded a free kick from 25 yards out with seven seconds left, but Pitt was able to clear the ball out as time expired.

Gerberich finished with four saves for the Purple Eagles and Watson led the team with six shots.

For the game, Niagara held a 15-13 advantage in shots while Pitt secured seven corner kicks to the Purple Eagles’ four.

The Panthers return to the road for the first time in two weeks when they travel to nationally-ranked No. 9 Louisville on Friday, Sept. 26.