PITTSBURGH – Pitt delivered a dramatic 1-0 double overtime victory over Portland in front of a capacity crowd at Ambrose Urbanic Field Saturday afternoon to advance to the College Cup at WakeMed Sports Park in Cary, N.C. for the second time in the past three seasons. The Panthers dominated play throughout the contest before securing the win with a Valentin Noel goal in the 104th minute.
Noel netted his 11th goal of the season by banging a header into the back of the net from just outside the penalty hash off a terrific cross from Bertin Jacquesson. Lucas Rosa slid a thru ball to Jacquesson along the right wing and the junior forward took a touch toward the end line before finding his countryman in front of the cage for another scoring sequence from the French connection. The tandem has combined for 19 goals and eight assists on the season.
Pitt was on attack throughout the game generating a commanding 32-8 advantage on shots, including an 11-2 in shots on goal. Goalie Joe van der Sar came away with two saves, including smothering an up close attempt in the 70th minute en route to his 8th clean sheet of the season.
OT OPPORTUNITIES
Pitt nearly grabbed the lead in the first 10-minute overtime stanza as Filip Mirkovic found Josh Luchini on the back post at the 98-minute mark, but the Portland keeper got a hand down just in time to smother the one-time attempt and keep the game 0-0 … Rodrigo Almeida‘s header off a Mirkovic cross two minutes into the second overtime session drifted just wide of frame.
EARLY & OFTEN
Pitt came out strong dominating play in the opening minutes of play with five shots in the opening 10 minutes of play … In the third minute Rosa has a strike from the top of the box forcing a diving save by the Portland keeper. Pitt retained control and followed with cross and diving header by Jacquesson that slid just wide of frame … in the sixth minute, Jacquesson sent a driving cross into the box that was redirected on goal by Almeida that was blocked off the line by a Portland defender … Rosa added a right foot blast from just inside the box deflected over the cross bar by Portland keeper in the ninth minute.
OPENING HALF DOMINATION
The Panthers completely controlled play in…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Pitt Panthers #H2P…