The Pitt women’s soccer team faced Rhode Island on Friday evening in its first match back at Ambrose Urbanic Field after three consecutive road games, and the return to Pittsburgh saw the team snap a two-game losing streak with a 1-1 draw.
Pitt went down 1-0 in the 14th minute, as Rhode Island midfielder Rebecca D’Anna took advantage of an errant pass by the Panthers and beat Pitt goalkeeper Amaia Peña to slot home the second goal of her collegiate career. The Rams would take that lead into the half and maintain it for the majority of the game, but Pitt came up with an answer in the waning minutes of the second half to even the score.
Pitt freshman Amanda West had a hand in the vital goal, as she crossed over Rhode Island defender Karlee Luker and lofted a pass into the goal box, where it landed at the feet of Sydney Marasco. Marasco, who is also a promising freshman, then knocked a game-tying goal past Rhode Island goalkeeper Teresa Morrissey, bringing the score to 1-1.
”The play of our team continues to improve from the beginning of the season,” Pitt head coach Randy Waldrum said in a postgame interview. “But I think the problem is ... we’re in the month of September, and I’m tired of being Santa Claus already, meaning that these couple of games, we’ve given away the goal. ... It just continues to be defensive mistakes on our end, and we end up playing from behind. ... We’ve just got to keep plugging away and keep trying to work to clean that up.”
One positive from the outcome is that West’s assist extended her point streak to five games. While this was the first game of the season and her collegiate career in which she did not score a goal, she still managed to display her exceptional skill and come up with a key contribution. She now has six goals and two assists for a total of 14 points, which is the most points any Pitt player has amassed in a season since Taylor Pryce had 16 in 2015.
With the draw, Pitt’s record now stands at 2-2-1, and the team remains unbeaten at home in 2019. Pitt will look to extend its unbeaten streak to three games on Sunday, when it hosts St. Joseph’s. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. ET.