Pitt women’s soccer blanked by TCU 4-0

The Pitt and TCU women’s soccer teams were both undefeated entering their matchup in Fort Worth, Texas, on Thursday night, and only the Horned Frogs would exit the game with their streak intact, as they handed the Panthers their first loss of the season in the form of a 4-0 shutout.

Thursday night’s loss marks the first time the Panthers have been blanked this season, but the result was par for the course for Horned Frogs, as this was their fourth clean sheet of the year. With the win, TCU stretched its unbeaten run to five games. Pitt now sits at 3-1-1.

TCU pressured Pitt early, as Maddy Warren got off a shot and a header within the first three minutes but failed to connect on either opportunity. By the 16th minute, the Horned Frogs were on the board after the Panthers gave up a foul in the penalty area, and Kayla Hill converted the penalty kick, giving her team a 1-0 lead.

The Panthers were thoroughly outshot by the Horned Frogs in the first half 12-1, and as a result, they ended up conceding their second goal of the game in the 42nd minute to TCU’s McKenzie Oliver. Oliver eluded Pitt defender Aideen O’Donoghue and goalkeeper Amaia Pena, whose unsuccessful slide tackle left her out of position with the net wide open for the TCU forward.

TCU did not let up in the second half and continued to reel off shot after shot early in the final frame. Pitt managed to keep it more competitive in the last 45 minutes, but the Panthers were still outshot 10-4, bringing the total for the game to 22-5 in favor of the Horned Frogs.

One of those shots came off the foot of Natalee Heiser in the 64th minute and gave the home team a 3-0 advantage. For good measure, Haley Mallion, who had previously set up Oliver’s goal with a well-placed through ball, buried a final shot in the bottom right corner of the net.

The loss is the first of Pitt head coach Randy Waldrum’s tenure at the university, and he’ll look to turn things around on Sunday, when the Panthers head to the northern edge of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex to Denton, where they’ll face the Mean Green to close out their road trip.

Like Pitt, North Texas currently sits at 3-1-1 on the season, and the team is coming off a 14-4-4 campaign in 2017. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.