STANFORD, Calif. – Sophomore Mia Bhuta headed-home her third goal of the season in the 19th minute, but Pitt’s Keera Melenhorst equalized in the 39th as No. 6 Stanford (10-1-1, 2-1-1 ACC) was forced to settle for one point following a 1-1 draw with Pittsburgh (7-3-2, 1-2-1 ACC) on Sunday afternoon from Cagan Stadium.
Bhuta got on the end of a beautiful corner kick from Jasmine Aikey, heading her shot to the near post to beat Pitt’s goalkeeper Ellie Breech to make it 1-0 Cardinal.
That one-goal advantage held until Melenhorst unleashed a perfect right-footed shot from distance, pinging her strike off the crossbar and down into the net while leaving Haley Craig without a chance for the Cardinal.
Craig was stellar down the stretch in goal for the Cardinal, eventually tallying five saves while facing 13 Pitt shots.
The Panthers managed to outshoot the Cardinal 13-10 – just the second time this year that Stanford has been on the short end of that tally.
Sunday’s match proved to a physical contest, as the two teams combined for 23 fouls – including 15 from Stanford. Pitt was shown a pair of yellow cards, as Sarah Schupansky and Samiah Phiri were each booked.
Stanford will play just one match next week, traveling to SMU on Saturday for a 5 p.m. PT kickoff.
GAME NOTES:
• Sunday’s match was the first between the two teams in program history
• The goal allowed was just the fourth surrendered by the Cardinal this year
• The Cardinal owns a 117-5-10 record at Cagan Stadium since the start of the 2014 season … is unbeaten in its last 34 straight home matches (32-0-2)