Men’s soccer falls to Panthers on penalty kick

There was 3:52 left on the game clock.

That's when Duquesne men's soccer team (2-4-1) was called for a foul inside its own box, giving Pittsburgh forward Nico Wrobel a penalty kick to virtually seal a 1-0  Pitt (2-5-1) victory at Ambrose Urbanic Field Friday night.

Duquesne forward Nathan McCann seemed to have gained clean possession after battling with Wrobel into the box. After McCann had passed the ball up-field, referee Jeremy Schroeder blew his whistle, awarding Wrobel the penalty kick.

Wrobel slowly approached the ball and tipped his hand to Dukes goalkeeper Colin Thorp, causing Thorp to dive right. Wrobel readjusted and planted an easy dagger right into the center of the net in the 86th minute.

Several of the Dukes, including captain Adam Clement, were visibly upset with Schroeder's call immediately after the whistle. Clement and Carter Poe approached the referee, but Schroeder ignored the pleas of the two Duquesne captains.

After the match, Clement said he felt Schroeder should have let the teams play the game out instead of deciding the match on a borderline call.

"We were the away team, and this is their house, so we're not going to get that call," Clement said. "I thought Nate played the ball well and was just the bigger kid. But we had more than enough chances to win the game, so that's not why we lost."

Duquesne's best chance came in the 79th minute when junior midfielder Julio Perez found Simon Gomez blazing down the middle of the field, setting Gomez up for a golden crack at the net. But Gomez put the ball right into the awaiting arms of Pitt goalkeeper Keega Gunderson.

The Dukes outshot Pitt 13-11 and forced Gunderson to make seven saves in order to keep his sheet clean.

Duquesne has developed a pattern this season of coming out on the losing end of matches after seemingly out-performing opponents. The Dukes have outshot their opponents 96-85, but have only scored on 8.3 percent of those shots. That number has been an even smaller 6.25 percent during their current five game winless streak (0-4-1) that was capped by a 3-1 loss to West Virginia on Sunday.

Freshman forward Austin Lange, who has scored one goal on eight shots this season, believes the team is very close to turning the season around.

"We have to stay focused," Lange said. "We've been on the road for the past few games now, and that's always tough. We just have to fight through it and then I think we'll start winning these games."

The play of forward Josh Patterson may have a lot to say with how the rest of Duquesne's season unveils. Patterson trails only Gomez for the team lead in shots and shots on goal with 16 and eight. However unlike Gomez, Patterson has yet to find the back of the net.

"I just have to find the ball and take it into the box," Patterson said. "Once I get it in there I have to start getting a good shot off and make it hard for the goalie to make a save."

Patterson had maybe his best match of the season against Pitt by putting up four shots with two on goal.

His performance was most closely matched by the play of Gomez, three shots with two on goal, and the surprising play of Perez. Since being added to the squad, the transfer student from Tampa Bay has one goal on five shots in Duquesne's past four games, two of which he started. His line was made more impressive by his three shot performance Friday.

"I just try to play with a lot of speed and be smart," Perez said. "I try to play with [Gomez and Patterson] and make sure I play with confidence out there."

Duquesne hopes to regain its confidence when they head to Moon Township to play another local rival, Robert Morris, at 4 p.m. Friday.