Rylee Fry matched Tiffin's opening tally with a first-half strike of her own, but the Mountain Cats couldn't hold off a second-half surge as the Pitt-Johnstown women's soccer team dropped its season opener, 5-1, at Tiffin (Ohio) on Thursday afternoon.
The Mountain Cats (0-1) battled a Tiffin squad that improved to 1-0 with the win at Paradiso Athletic Complex.
Pitt-Johnstown was outshot 16-7, with Tiffin holding a 7-3 edge in shots on goal, though goalkeeper Parker Grimm turned away two shots to keep the Mountain Cats within striking distance for much of the afternoon.
Tiffin struck first in the ninth minute on a goal from Dani Garner, assisted by Maddie Davis. Pitt-Johnstown answered right back in the 17th minute, as Fry knotted the score at 1-1 off an assist from Sarah Henry, and the teams went to the break tied.
Tiffin regained the lead just after the hour mark, converting a penalty kick from Callie Cacchione in the 51st minute to make it 2-1. Maddie Davis struck again in the 61st minute off an assist from Cacchione, and Taylor Iden extended the margin to 4-1 in the 65th minute with helpers from Sam McPhee and Tammie Shalit. Mikayla Tolbert capped the scoring in the 77th minute, assisted by Leonor Sousa, to set the final margin at 5-1.
Marissa Mackey and Nicole Hawk each tested the Tiffin defense with shots on goal for Pitt-Johnstown.
The Mountain Cats will look to bounce back quickly when they return home to host Alumni Day and West Virginia Wesleyan College on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Richland High School. Pitt-Johnstown then opens PSAC play on Wednesday at California (Pa.) at 5 p.m., before hosting a conference match against Edinboro on Saturday, Sept. 5, at 1 p.m.
