Panthers Earn 1-1 Draw at No. 6 Stanford

Box Score

STANFORD, CA – Pitt earned a 1-1 draw against No. 6 Stanford Sunday afternoon at Cagan Stadium as Keera Melenhorst netted a first half equalizer after the Cardinal jumped out to a 1-0 lead. The Panthers move to 7-3-2 overall and 1-2-1 in ACC play, while Stanford is now 10-1-1 (2-1-1 ACC).

Pitt grabbed control of the run of play earlier in the contest and had the first opportunity of the day on a Deborah Abiodun header off a Sarah Schupansky corner in the eighth minute. Abiodun’s attempt from 12 yards out cleared the keeper but went just high and settled into the top of the cage.

Pitt withstood a pair of attempts by Stanford in the 14^th minute as Ellie Breech smothered strike off a loose ball in the box and saw a rebound attempt sail high and wide of the frame.

Stanford grabbed a 1-0 at the 18:10 mark on Pittsburgh native Mia Bhuta’s header off a corner feed from Jasmine AIkey.

Samiah Phiri nearly provided the equalizer in the 25^th minute with a driving shot from the left wing that was curling to the back box that forced a lunging save by Haley Craig to deflect it off a free Pitt runner and just outside the post.

Pitt pushed forward on the attack and knotted the contest at 1-1 with a bar down goal from 20 yards out by Melenhorst. Schupansky found senior forward in the center of the field just outside the box and Melenhorst used a nice turn over her right shoulder to beat a Stanford defender and bang home her fourth goal of the season.

The two teams entered the halftime break square at 1-1 following an evenly played opening 45 minutes. The Cardinal had a slight edge in shots, 5-4,

Pitt came out of the half generating a pair of attempts in the opening five minutes as Schupansky found Abiodun on a cross from the left end line for a sliding attempt that sailed high and wide. She also found Ellie Coffield on an open run off a free kick from 35-yards out. Coffield’s running header from 15 yards out was curling towards the back post but finished just wide of target.

Breech made a stop on a long thru ball before a collision led to an officials review for a potential penalty. Pitt maintained possession on the restart and immediately generated a scoring opportunity

Phiri worked her way across the box from the right wing and…