BRADFORD, Pa. – The Pitt-Bradford men's soccer team held on to a late lead and finished the 2014 campaign on a winning note by defeating the Hilbert Hawks, 2-1, on Tuesday at the Kessel Athletic Complex.
Pitt-Bradford (4-14, 3-6) found itself in a battle during the first half with Hilbert (4-12-1, 2-7) before pulling away with a late goal by senior Seth Levy, playing in his final game in a Panther uniform.
Despite a total of 30 shots being taken by both teams, only three were able to squeak by the keepers. Pitt-Bradford sophomore net minder Colin Frownfelter finished with eight saves on 13 shots taken by the Hawks. Hilbert's Jonathan Davison grabbed seven saves on the 17 shots fired by the Panthers.
Levy guided the Panthers offensively with three shots, one assist and the game-winning goal, while freshman Ethan Acaster had a strong performance as well with six shots total and one goal.
The two teams ended the first 45 minutes of play with a scoreless tie showing on the scoreboard.
Coming out of the locker room in the second half, Levy chipped a short pass to Acaster in the box in the 48th minute. Acaster headed the ball off the bounce and slipped it over the goalkeeper's head to give Pitt-Bradford a 1-0 lead.
10 minutes later, Hilbert's Garrett Rehner beat Frownfelter to his right side for the equalizer and the Panthers found themselves in a similar situation with a tie late in the game. This time however, Pitt-Bradford capitalized when it got the opportunity.
In the 75th minute, Levy broke past the last line of defense and raced toward the goal in a one versus one situation with the goalie. Levy beat the keeper when he attempted to make a diving save and pushed the ball into the empty net for the game-winning goal in his final outing.
"This was a great way to finish the season with a win and bounce back from our heartbreaking loss on Saturday that cost us the playoffs by 56 seconds," said head coach Darek Panol.
