La Plume, Pa. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford men's soccer team opened their 2024 campaign on Sunday afternoon, taking on Keystone College. The Panthers fell behind early and could not keep the Giants down in the second half, ultimately falling 5-0.

The Giants struck quickly in the opening half, as after hitting the post in the opening minutes, a Pitt-Bradford foul just outside the box gave the hosts a free kick in a dangerous position. Keystone took advantage of the opportunity and curled a shot into the corner of the goal to take a 1-0 lead within 4 minutes of the start. The Panthers settled down and nearly struck back immediately. Will Smith took a shot from outside the box which deflected off a defender and off to the side of the goal. Bailee Verdill was the first to the rebound, but his low effort was parried away by the goalkeeper, denying the Panthers of their first goal of the season. Freshman goalkeeper Troy VanSickle kept the deficit at one for the remainder of the half, making 4 saves in the first 45 minutes. The Panthers had one other opportunity to score late in the half. Sophomore fullback Conner Rudsell made a long dribbling run down the left wing and was able to use a stepover to beat his defender to the end line. He attempted to send a low cross into the box, but it did not find a teammate and was cleared out of trouble.

In the second half, Verdill unleashed an early shot that missed the net wide, and VanSickle made a save after 6 minutes, but the Panthers could not keep the Giants down for long. In the 53rd minute, a collision in the box following a throwing resulted in a penalty kick for the hosts, which they converted to double their advantage. 7 minutes later, the Giants added another goal after a through-ball found an unmarked attacker on the left wing, who hit a one-time volley into the side netting. The hosts beat the offsides trap in the 68th minute to score their 4th of the contest and then converted another free kick from just outside the box to finish the scoring.

Troy VanSickle picked up the loss despite making 6 saves in the game, his collegiate debut. Will Smith and Bailee Verdill each took two shots in the game, with one each forcing a save in the Giant's goal. Jaden Nye also had a shot on goal in the final minutes.

The Panthers fall to 0-1 after the opening-day loss. They will be back in action on Saturday, Sept. 7th, when they host Thiel in the program's first contest on Rathburn Family Field. Kickoff is set for 2:00 p.m.