Louisville women lose to Pitt

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Louisville women’s soccer team lost back-to-back games for the first time this season after a disappointing 2-0 home defeat to Pittsburgh on Friday night at Cardinal Park.

With the loss, the Cardinals dropped to 8-3-0 overall and 2-2-0 in BIG EAST Conference games, while the Panthers improved to 4-7-1 overall and 1-3-0 in league action with the win. The loss for Louisville, which was preceded by last Sunday’s home loss to No. 5 Notre Dame, was also its first ever to the Panthers in four all-time meetings.

“Statistically, I think this was an even game, but they finished their chances and we didn’t,” said Louisville head coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes. “I don’t equate tonight’s loss to tonight’s performance. I really equate tonight’s loss to the previous three games’ performances. We haven’t been sharp and we’ve been a little lackluster. I thought we were better tonight from an energy standpoint and an execution standpoint, but it’s a process. ”

Pittsburgh opened the scoring in the 37th minute when Liz Carroll connected on a penalty kick for a 1-0 advantage and her second goal of the season. The penalty kick opportunity was setup after the Cardinals were whistled for a handball inside the 18-yard box.
 
Louisville trailed at halftime despite holding a 13-6 advantage in shots on goal during the first 45 minutes, while shots-on-goal were even at 5-5. The Cardinals also had a 6-4 advantage in corner kicks.

However, Louisville was unable to turn things around in the second half and the Panthers added a second goal to end any hopes of a Cardinal rally. Pittsburgh’s Christina Nicassio scored from directly in front of the Louisville goal after taking a short cross from the left side from teammate Abby Baldys. The scoring chance, which was the first goal of the season for Nicassio, was created as Baldys took a through ball from teammate Katelyn Ruhe. The assist for Baldys was her second of the season, while Ruhe earned her team-leading sixth assist for Pitt.

Overall, Louisville finished with an 18-13 advantage in shots, though the Panthers had a 7-6 edge in shots-on-goal. The Cardinals had a 9-7 advantage in corner kicks, while Pittsburgh was called for 13 fouls to the Cardinals’ 10.

Up next, Louisville will continue its five-game homestand against West Virginia on Sunday at 1 p.m., ET at Cardinal Park.