BRADFORD, Pa. – The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's soccer team fought hard, but came up short in a 2-0 loss to Houghton on Tuesday afternoon at the Kessel Athletic Complex. 

The Pioneers took advantage of the very few mistakes the Panthers made, ultimately leading to the victory. 

"That was a tough loss for us. Although, I was pleased with our play the majority of the first half," said Pitt-Bradford head coach Mike Idland. "Unfortunately, we put ourselves in a very difficult spot heading into halftime for the second game in a row." 

Houghton controlled the momentum the majority of the game, tallying 20 shots, including 11 on goal. Shawna Sprout earned the shutout in net, gathering four saves for the Pioneers. 

"Houghton is an excellent team, and like most strong teams in college soccer, they make you pay for your mistakes," Idland said. "They made us pay for ours today."

Meghan Stuck led the Panthers offense with two shots on goal, including an excellent scoring chance in the second half that the Houghton keeper just barely got her hands on. Maggie Boehler and Courtney Shade both registered one shot on goal, while Sarah Dailey made nine saves in net for the Panthers in the loss.

Pitt-Bradford falls to 1-4 with the loss and Houghton improved to 4-2 with the victory.

"I am confident that we will come through this difficult start to the season OK, but it's very important that each of us takes responsibility for our own jobs within the team to turn some of these hard lessons into wins," Idland said. "I think our next game will tell us a lot about ourselves."

The Panthers next game comes against Alfred State on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Kessel Athletic Complex.

*Photo by Erika Helo*