Panthers struggle at home to Denver, exit in 2-2 draw

The Panthers struggled on both sides of the ball, but were able to escape with a draw against the Pioneers.

Pitt (5-5-3, 2-2-1 ACC) desperately needed a win following a four-game winless skid. Instead, the Panthers finished with their third tie in five games, extending their winning streak to five. Despite drawing with a higher-ranked opponent, Head his coach Jay his Vidovic was not happy with the team’s performance.

“Effort and quality were below our standards,” says Vidovich. “Will give

Part of it to Denver. Their team is very motivated and organized. However, I thought our performance fell short of the expected standard in every respect. “

Taking only eight shots, compared to the Pioneer’s 11, Pitt was seriously lacking in the shooting department. Vidovic said the Panthers have always been lacking in some areas of the game and never fully united on the pitch.

“Every day we seem to miss a different piece of the puzzle,” says Vidovich. “When we found it, it seems to be missing another piece.”

The Panthers had Pio in the first five minutes of play.

Nairs dominated the ball.Pitt also made some sloppy errors to start the game and committed two fouls within the first five minutes.

However, Pitt quickly recovered and pushed the ball into Pioneer territory.However, both teams first 20 minute of play.

sophomore midfielder Sam Bassett Finally spotted a scoring opportunity for Denver and fired a shot toward the middle of the net. However, Pitt goalkeeper Joe van der Sar quickly stopped the Pioneers’ goal hopes.

Bassett was unfazed by the blocked shot.he once again

In the 27th minute, he was in scoring position, but this time he made no mistakes.Bassett is long shot We found the bottom right corner of the goal and put the Pioneers up 1-0.

The typically aggressive Panthers were unable to produce an offense within the first half hour. They finally found their groove at 35 minutes. Philip Milkovich Shot past Denver’s first-year goalie Isaac Nehemleveling the matches one by one.

Denver nearly answered after just five minutes: first-year defense Dylan Akaw It was unmarked in the depths of Panther territory. However, van der Sar did not allow an easy goal and used his body to sabotage the Pioneers’ breakaway.

Neither team was able to dominate the scoreboard

By the end of the half. Despite the 1-1 score, Denver clearly out-shot the Panthers offensively. Pit 7-1Denver continued their aggressive shooting attack early in the second half, with redshirt first-year Ian Smith hitting van der Sar directly.

Both teams failed to capitalize on their big scoring chances early in the second half.The referee gave Pitt the definitive rating corner kick at 54 minutes. However, the Panthers were unable to capitalize on this chance, allowing Denver to clear the ball and avert disaster.

The Pioneers also had a decisive scoring chance in the 57th minute when senior midfielder Aidan O’Toole’s shot narrowly missed the left corner of the goal.

pioneer junior midfielder Ben Smith finally broke the banality

The score was tied in the 72nd minute with a shot down the bottom right of the goal to give Denver a 2–1 lead.

Then the Panthers discovered a miracle. In the 77th minute, Pioneer sophomore defender Jason Bellori made a crucial mistake deep in the box, blocking the ball with his hand.This moved Panther’s sophomore year forward Louis Samcow slow penalty kickThe sophomore forward clutched the Panthers and shot past Nehem to score the equalizing goal.

Sahmkow said he was not afraid to line up for a penalty kick.

“As players, we live for that,” said Samkow. “I trust myself enough to step into the spot and fill it. and gave it to me. “

The goal revitalized a stagnant Panther offense.The pit rattled two shots before another crucial corner kick was awarded in the 86th minute.Panthers passed the ball

before Nehem blocked an out-of-bounds shot and gave the Panthers another corner kick.This time a senior midfielder Valentin Noel He hit a clear shot on goal, but it went just wide of the net.

Ultimately, the Panthers were unable to capitalize on their late push and the game ended in a 2–2 draw. Vidovich has some serious questions about his team moving forward.

“I think it’s time to see who they are as human beings,” Vidovic said. Will it become stronger? Defense enhancement?”

Panthers look to exit recent c

Old streak against Virginia Tech

Friday. The match will start at 5pm. There will be no TV coverage of the match.