PANTHERS DROP 3-1 DECISION TO NO. 21 NOTRE DAME

Saturday, September 23

South Bend, Ind.

7:00 PM

Pitt

Notre Dame

PANTHERS DROP 3-1 DECISION TO NO. 21 NOTRE DAME

9/23/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Sept. 23, 2006

Box Score

NOTRE DAME, Ind.- The Pitt men's soccer team dropped a 3-1 decision to No. 21 Notre Dame Saturday night. The Panthers moved to 3-5-2 on the season and 2-2-1 in the Big East while the Fighting Irish improved to 5-3-2 and 3-2-0 in the Big East.

Notre Dame put the first point of the night on the board when sophomore defender Matt Besler knocked in the first goal of his collegiate career in the 21st minute of play.

With Pitt down 1-0 in the 47th minute, senior Keeyan Young (North Wales, Pa./Haverford School) scored the 23rd goal of his career. Young grabbed a lose ball from Notre Dame goalkeeper Chris Cahill and put it in from 14 yards out, tying the game at 1-1. Young is now in soul possession of the sixth spot on Pitt's all-time career goals list and trails a three-way tie for fourth place by one goal.

The Fighting Irish recaptured the lead in the 56th minute when Nate Norman passed the ball off to Joseph Lapira who put it past Pitt goalie Andy Jorgensen (Doylestown, Pa./Elizabethtown/Central Bucks East), giving Notre Dame a 2-1 advantage. Lapira went on to score again in the 71st minute with a shot from the top of the 18-yard box, pushing the score to the final of 3-1. This was Lapira's third multi-goal match of the season.

Freshman Matt Baker (Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem) finished the night with a team-high three shots. The Panthers will return home as they host two games at Founders Field this week. Pitt will take on Robert Morris University on Wednesday, Sept. 27, at 7 p.m. and Marquette Sunday, Oct. 1, at 1 p.m.