MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The West Virginia men’s soccer team beat Pitt, 2-1, to extend its winning streak to three matches Tuesday night at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
West Virginia’s (11-5-0) first goal came from freshman midfielder Josh DiMatteo, in the 16th minute. From near midfield, Piatczyc sent the ball up to sophomore forward Tsubasa Takada along the sideline, Takada then centered the ball to DiMatteo, who was waiting at the top of the box and beat Pitt goalkeeper Johan Penaranda.
“I thought we were the better team, especially in the second half,” WVU coach Marlon LeBlanc said. “I thought we were really good on the night, and we’re starting to hit our stride a little bit. We told our guys at halftime that if we don’t concede, we win the game. We got the second goal, and now it is really hard for Pitt, and they’ll have to stretch themselves. I was disappointed we gave away the goal, but I was really proud of the way we responded after conceding it. We put more pressure on them and created more chances. We really shut it down, and that’s hopefully the sign of a championship team. We get to play for a championship Friday night.”
The Mountaineers extended their lead to 2-0 early in the second half, at 48:41 after free kick by Piatczyc. From 25 yards out, Piatczyc found the back of the net in the top-right corner.
Pitt (7-9) cut into WVU’s lead with a goal 30 seconds later by Alexander Dexter, but Pitt could not get any closer. It was the Panthers’ lone shot on goal in the contest.
WVU out-shot Pitt, 15-4, and held a 5-1 advantage in shots on goal. The Panthers had 23 fouls to WVU’s 11, and they had a 4-3 edge in corner kicks.
The Mountaineers improved to 34-10-5 all-time against the Panthers (7-9) and remain undefeated in the series at home since 1997. WVU has won nine of its last 11 matches and is unbeaten in 17 of its last 21 contests in Morgantown. Penaranda finished the game with three saves for Pitt.
WVU goalkeeper Steven Tekesky faced only one shot on goal and therefore didn’t record any saves, but was named MAC Player of the Week on Tuesday.
