Box Score

PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh women’s soccer team (0-0-1) ended Friday night’s game with Saint Francis (Pa.) (0-0-1) in a double overtime, 1-1 draw to open the 2015 season at Rooney Field.

“That’s the cruelty of the game sometimes,” said head coach Greg Miller. “We just fell asleep for one moment early. That’s very frustrating when so many things are going your way but you just can’t seal the deal.”

The Panthers set program records in shots (47) and shots on goal (31), both standing since 1998, as opposing goalkeeper Romina Kunze tallied a SFU record 26 saves. Pitt’s shot total on the evening also marked a new Rooney Field record, eclipsing the previous best of 39 set in 1995.

The Red Flash jumped to an early lead with a seventh-minute strike from former NEC All-Rookie representative Allison LaDuke. It would be Saint Francis’ only shot of the evening.

Pitt got the equalizer from sophomore forward Taylor Pryce in the 61^st minute, her fifth career goal, on an assist from sophomore midfielder Ashley Moreira. Moreira dropped a pass directly in front of Pryce on a dead run at the top of the box, who expertly controlled and fired the shot to the right of the goalkeeper.

For the rest of the game, the story would be the steady assault on goal by the Panthers, including several late shots at the close of regulation and overtime that seemed destined to hand Pitt the win before a sudden effort from Kunze saved SFU’s hopes.

Just a freshman, Juliana Vazquez notched nine shots, seven on goal, to put her just one shot shy of the single-game Pitt record. The effort built on a strong showing in preseason play.

“I wanted to come in and have an impact right away,” said Vazquez. “I didn’t know what my role would be, whether as a starter or off the bench, but either way all I wanted to do was have some type of impact on the game no matter what.”

The team will resume action on Sunday at 1 p.m. when it takes on Robert Morris back at Rooney Field to round out Pitt’s play in the Steel City Classic.

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