The Basics
Final Score: Detroit 0, Pittsburgh 0
Records: Detroit 0-0-1, Pittsburgh 0-0-1
Location: Pittsburgh, Pa. (Ambrose Urbanic Field)
PITTSBURGH (8/26/2016) -- Sticking true to its defensive roots that have led them to success in recent seasons, the University of Detroit Mercy earned a hard-fought shutout on the road during the opening night of men's soccer across the country, tying Pittsburgh 0-0, on Friday.
Detroit Mercy (0-0-1) allowed just two shots on goal during the match to post the shutout in its season opener. The Titan defense was strong all night in preventing the Panthers from securing good looks on net.
"I was impressed with the team with the defensive shape and being able to adjust to the new formation that we are trying to play. It wasn't the finished product, obviously, because we didn't score, but we are missing some players on the front line, and when they get back to health, it should be good for us going forward," men's soccer head coach
Nicholas Deren '99 said.
"I couldn't be happier for the team to come into a pretty tough environment and play on the road and get a result and to be fair, we had a couple of pretty good opportunities within the game. Off to Marshall and hopefully we can put some more of it together and keep improving."
The Titans trailed in the shot column, 17-8, but Pittsburgh had just one shot on goal in the second half and overtime combined. Meanwhile, Detroit Mercy had the edge in shots on goal, 4-2. Junior goalkeeper
Robbie Beckwell made two saves in net to earn the shutout.
Offensively, seniors
Tyler Moorman and
Tommy Bowman each had two shots for Detroit Mercy. Moorman's were both on goal.
Pittsburgh had the first good looks on net in the contest, but Detroit Mercy had a flurry of chances near the end of the first half. Bowman rocketed a shot from the left side outside of the box that was tipped just over the crossbar, and just over a minute later,
Matt DeVries and
Jake Reitzloff followed with shots. Moorman then put a shot on goal that was also saved in the 38th minute.
The Panthers had their best chance in the final minutes of the game, as a cross was knocked off the post by Josh Coan. It was the last serious look on net during the match.
Game Notes
• Beckwell's shutout was the third career of his career. He was making just his fifth career start in net.
• Five Titans played in their first collegiate game --
Justin Murray,
Justin Schueneman,
Garret Weaver,
Jake Reitzloff and
James Solomon.
• Murray and Schueneman both started and played all 110 minutes.
• Detroit Mercy picked up three yellow cards, while Pittsburgh wasn't carded during the match.
• The Titans are now 2-1-3 in their past six season openers and have tied two straight openers after last season's 1-1 tie vs. IUPUI.
• It was the first-ever meeting in the regular season between the two schools.
Up Next
Detroit Mercy returns to the pitch on Sunday afternoon, playing another road game at Marshall University. That contest is set for 1 p.m.
