Inside The Panthers

Pitt Men's Soccer Takes Down Louisville

No. 7 Pitt Panthers men's soccer took down Louisville in their ACC home opener.

Dominic Campbell

Pitt Men's Soccer forward Casper Grening dribbles in the 3-2 win vs. Louisville
Pitt Men's Soccer forward Casper Grening dribbles in the 3-2 win vs. Louisville / Courtesy of Pitt Athletics

PITTSBURGH -- The No. 7 Pitt Panthers men's soccer team played incredibly on attack in their match Friday night against the Louisville Cardinals, holding on for a 3-2 victory at Ambrose Urbanic Field in their ACC home opener.

The Panthers (5-1-0 overall, 2-0-0 ACC) get just their second win ever against the Cardinals (4-2-0 overall, 0-2-0 ACC), with their only previous victory coming on Oct. 23, 2020 on the road, 4-1. This also serves as revenge for losing to the Cardinals 2-1 in double overtime in the ACC Tournament last season.

Pitt got the first goal of the game in the 18th minute, as senior defender Mateo Maillefaud, playing left back, came down the left wing and put a cross in the box. Louisville sophomore goal keeper Harvey Sellers didn't get a strong enough hand on the cross and it weakly fell to Pitt senior midfielder Guilherme Feitosa, who blasted it in the back of the net for the opening score.

That goal for Feitosa is his third of the season in just six matches, after only scoring a combined three goals in the past two seasons.

The Panthers would get their second opportunity off a penalty, as Cardinals freshman midfielder TJ Kahoalii fouled senior Panthers forward and Kentucky transfer Casper Grening in the box.

Senior forward Luis Sahmkow stepped up to the penalty spot and calmly put it to the left of Sellers to double the Panthers' lead.

Pitt would hold on to the lead to stay up 2-0 at halftime and looked strong to begin the second half, but Louisville didn't give up so easily.

They put in some good team work, as a slide tackle lead to a cross in the box, which lead to a header and then to shot from senior defender Gaetano D'Argento that richoeted off of Pitt freshman defender Niklas Soerensen and past junior goalkeeper Cabral Carter into the net to cut the deficit within one goal in the 62nd minute.

Pitt freshman midfielder Miguel Bertran put in a long ball to Sahmkow, who dribbled well, had patience and scored his second goal of the game, putting into the opposite corner of the net to make it 3-1 in the 81st minute.

That makes it four goals on the season for Sahmkow and two straight games that he's scored in, with a goal in the 3-1 win over then ranked No. 22 SMU in Dallas last weekend.

Louisville would get a goal back in the 85th minute, as senior defender Josh Jones got a ball that bounced around the box and curled it into the net.

Pitt would hold on and improve to 5-1 on the season, their best start since they won the first seven games of the 2020-21 season.

The Panthers will head out on the road for their next match, as they take on the Cleveland State Vikings in Cleveland on Tuesday, Sept. 17 with a 7:00 p.m. kickoff.

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Dominic Campbell

DOMINIC CAMPBELL

Follow Dominic Campbell on Twitter.

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