Syracuse 1, Pittsburgh 0: Strong showing leads to Orange’s eighth victory

In their second-to-last home game, the Syracuse Orange women’s soccer team (8-5-3, 1-4-2 ACC) was in search of their eighth win of 2016 yesterday afternoon. Another strong effort by both the offense and defense did just that.

Pittsburgh (2-12-1, 1-6-0 ACC) had control for the majority of the first 25 minutes of the match. They earned three corner kick chances over that span but came up just short in all of their attempts. The Orange took advantage of the final missed opportunity and turned it into a couple of corners of their own. On the second try, the Panthers were called for a handball foul. Freshman defender Taylor Bennett booted the 25-yard free kick into the top left corner of the goal, just out of the reach of Taylor Frances.

Syracuse seized control for the rest of the half, coming very close to extending the lead to two goals.

Pitt found a bit of a rhythm again within the first five minutes of the second half. The Orange’s defense held steady, though, not allowing anything to go past them. Junior goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan made two great saves within seven minutes of each other. Syracuse gained offensive momentum again in the 72nd minute and never looked back.

The Panthers had one more good look to potentially send the game into overtime, but Cheyenne Hudson’s shot was just wide of the net, securing Brosnan’s seventh shutout of the season.

Players of the Match

• Taylor Bennett, Freshman, Defender: 1 shot, 1 shot-on-goal, 1 goal
• Alex Lamontagne, Junior, Forward: 3 shots, 1 shot-on-goal
• Sheridan Street, Junior, Midfielder: 3 shots, 2 shots-on-goal
• Courtney Brosnan, Junior, Goalkeeper: 5 saves, 0 goals allowed

Up Next

The Orange head to Winston-Salem, N.C. on Thursday for their matchup against Wake Forest (9-6-0, 1-6-0 ACC). Their final home game, Senior Day, will be this coming Sunday versus No. 11 North Carolina.