9-23-15

The Pitt News T h e in de p e n d e n t st ude nt ne w spap e r of t he University of Pittsburgh

Pitt men’s soccer grinds out victory with late goal.

September 23, 2015 | Issue 28 | Volume 106

WRESTLER SIGNED, SEALED, REGISTERED ARRESTED, DISMISSED FROM TEAM Dan Sostek Sports Editor

The Pittsburgh Police department arrested former Pitt wrestler Edgar Bright following an incident Friday night.

Bright was charged with seven total counts including aggravated assault, firearm violations and drug possession.

According to E.J. Borghetti, Pitt’s associate athletic director for media relations, Pitt head wrestling coach Jason Peters dismissed Bright from Pitt’s wrestling team immediately after learning of the charges.

Bright was previously arrested last August in Cleveland, Ohio, and was charged with assault, kidnapping and intimidating a victim or witness.

Bright pled guilty to the assault charges. He was found guilty and served 45 days in jail before his release on June 15.

The University would not comment further on these charges.

Students register to vote outside of the William Pitt Union Tuesday. Stephen Caruso | Contributing editor

Alex Leighton Staff Writer

As the 2016 presidential primaries loom closer, an on-campus political event looked beyond party affiliations to ensure students will get out and vote.

Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., roughly 150 students registered to vote at Pitt’s National Voter Registration Day. Pitt College Democrats, Pi

Sigma Alpha and Black Action Society sponsored the event outside the William Pitt Union .

The groups, however, did not put up signs around the registration table announcing their involvement, and they did not ask students which party they were registering for.

Charlotte Goldbach, vice president of Pi Sigma Alpha, said this tactic was crucial to the event’s success.

“There’s been a lot of commotion about the 2016 elections,” Goldbach said. “But we don’t want to tell people how to vote. We just want them to get involved.”

With a row of six computers set up outside the Union, volunteers flagged down passersby and asked them to take a moment to register. Although the registration process was quick, See Registration on page 4

News

MAKING OAKLAND ACCESSIBLE

The event featured lectures from ities Act to make sure people with Rev. Sally Jo Snyder, the director disabilities could live fulfilling of advocacy and consumer engagelives. The act prohibits employers ment at the Consumer Health Cofrom discriminating against peoalition, and DJ Stemmler. Stemmler ple with disabilities and requires is a member of Accessible Oakland, buildings to comply with regulaa group that strives to improve the tions accommodating those with accessibility of Oakland buildings. disabilities, among other things.

He is also the office administrator Stemmler was present when the bill for Pitt’s Graduate School of Public was signed.

Health’s HIV Prevention and Care “It was a big deal,” Stemmler Project. About 60 Pitt students atsaid. tended the Today, Stemevent, accordmler thinks the ing to event federal governorganizer Mament needs to rie Skoczydo more to enlas, a visiting “The goal is to have equali- force the laws instructor for ty for everyone. Regardless it puts in place.

Pitt’s gender, of our skin color, disabili- Oakland, in her sexuality and opinion, needs a ties, sexuality, gender and lot of work. women’s studso forth, we should all have A c c o r d i n g ies program.

S k o c z y l a s equal access to resources to Oakland For said the lecand the ability to live ful- All, an advoture was meant cacy group for fi lling lives.” to raise awaredisabled people, ness about opMarie Skoczylas only 11 percent Visiting instructor of the businesspression and struggles for es in Oakland disabled indihave zero-step viduals. entrances, meaning that the maDJ Stemmler speaks to students Tuesday. Amy Beaudine | Staff Photographer “The goal is to have equality for jority of Oakland is inaccessible to everyone,” Skoczylas said. “Regardthose who cannot walk up stairs. ities on Tuesday night.

Amy Beaudine less of our skin color, disabilities, Stemmler said she would rate Staff Writer Pitt’s gender, sexuality and womsexuality, gender and so forth, we Oakland’s building and business en’s studies program hosted “All should all have equal access to reaccessibilities at a D and D-, reA ride on the bus, a night out to of me ... All the time: An Honest sources and the ability to live fulspectively, based on her own scale. dinner, a sexual encounter — while Conversation on Gender, Sexuality filling lives.”

Despite the inaccessibility of these things might seem mundane, and Disability,” from 4 to 5:30 p.m.

In 1990, the U.S. government Oakland, all of the buildings on Pitt students learned how difficult Tuesday, Sept. 22, in room 1228 of passed the Americans with Disabilthey can be for people with disabilthe Cathedral of Learning.

See Accessible on page 5 pittnews.com September 23, 2015 2

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FILLING SEATS

After starting the term with five total vacancies, SGB filled the four open seats on its Allocations Committee and announced plans to fill its open board seat. | by Amy Beaudine Three weeks into the fall semester, Pitt’s Student Government Board is in the business of filling seats — including a few spots for interns.

At its weekly public meeting Tuesday, Sept. 22, SGB announced it is reopening its internship program. SGB last had interns in 2011, though then-Executive Vice President Nasreen Harun said she didn’t know why the Board ended the program.

According to Harun, the SGB internship program is only available to Pitt freshman, because freshmen can’t serve on the board.

“The program allows them to get involved with Board members on projects they are interested in. It’s a way for them to gain exposure if they want to see how SGB works.”

Applications will be available Wednesday, Sept. 23, on SGB’s website. SGB will pair interns with Board members based on the initiatives they are interested in pursuing, and interns will learn how to contact Pitt’s administration to get started on specific initiatives.

Harun said SGB is currently planning to accept five interns, but it may accept more if more initiatives open up. SGB will not pay interns.

Harun also announced that SGB had filled the four vacancies on its Allocations Committee. SGB also selected sophomore Kaitlyn Pendrak as its first-ever alternate Allocations Committee member and is looking to fill the vacancy on the Board.

After former President Graeme Meyer resigned from his post in May this year, Harun took over as president, leaving one seat open on the Board. On Wednesday, Sept. 23, Harun said, SGB will publish the application to apply for the open position on its website. All Pitt students who are not freshmen are eligible to apply for the position, Harun said.

To elect a new Board member, SGB must interview each candidate publicly — and may do so twice — per its govern-

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ing code. After each round of interviews, SGB must provide time for public comment. SGB will close applications 9 a.m.

Oct. 2, according to Harun.

The new members — Maddie Guido, a freshman biology major; Emily Patrick, a freshman psychology major; Joelle Smith, a senior English writing and digital media major, and Cole Sterrett, a sophomore leadership and ethics major — fill the four vacancies.

For the new members on the Allocations Committee, SGB’s nominating task force officially selected the new members at its private meeting last Sunday. Harun, Nick Reslink, chair of the Allocations Committee, and Max Kneis, vice chair of the Allocations Committee, were the nominating task force and chose the new members.

According to Harun, the committee received 37 applications and interviewed 21 candidates in total for the four available Allocations positions. The new committee members will serve until the end of the school year.

The Allocations Committee will have its first meeting with a full staff this Thursday. After that, the committee members will begin holding office hours.

New member Patrick said she applied for the position to find her purpose on campus.

“I’m most excited to have an impact on the school,” she said.

Reslink said it was a rewarding process to bring on four new committee members.

“It’s always good to get new perspective,” he said. “There’s 12 of us for a reason and that’s to get as many diverse opinions as possible.”

Allocations: UPTV requested $1,604.97 to attend a conference. SGB approved the request in full.

Panther Swim Club requested $1,873.20 to attend a national swim meet.

SGB approved the request in full.

September 23, 2015

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Registration, pg. 1 long lines formed as students waited to use the computers.

Once at a computer, students accessed Pennsylvania’s online voter registration application to complete the form, which asked questions about their citizenship, age, party affiliation and reason for registering. Students can also use the application to update prior registration. If the information entered matches the applicant’s Pennsylvania Department of Transportation number, the application will be sent to their county voter registration office.

Applicants can visit VotesPA to monitor the status of their application.

In previous years, College Democrats have handed out paper voter registration forms outside of the Litchfield Towers lobby. The group typically gathered 30 to 40 completed forms. This year, Gabbi Hill, a junior chemistry major and president of the Pitt College Democrats, estimates they had 150 people register online through the event .

Hill credits the increased registration to the speed and ease of the Internet compared to paper and pencil.

In addition to getting students to vote, the event raised awareness about the need to re-register if a student has changed residencies from his or her permanent home to a college address.

The co-sponsors also attributed the event’s successful turnout to this summer’s enforcement of the voter registration amendment. On Aug. 27, Gov. Tom Wolf and Pennsylvania Secretary of State Pedro Cortes announced Pennsylvania could begin registering voters online. The Pennsylvania government approved the amendment in 2002, but Gov. Wolf did not implement it until this summer. On Aug. 27, Pennsylvania became the 23rd state to use online registration.

Brandon Small, a senior who registered as a Democrat at the event, said many college students aren’t aware of the registration rules regarding changing residencies.

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“No one knows that you have to re-register when you move to college,” Smalls, a microbiology major, said. “It sucks. I’m going to tweet about it later.”

Aminata Kamara, a member of the Black Action Society, said the new online registration encourages more people to vote.

“The election’s coming up,” Kamara, a sophomore nursing student, said.

“More black people need to vote. More young people need to vote. And I’m both.”

To increase the number of voters they could register, the three co-sponsoring groups decided to merge and cohost the event several weeks ago.

“The best way to do something is to do it together,” Goldbach said.

Hill said she was not surprised to see a large turnout.

“It surprises me that people don’t maintain this conversation,” Hill said.

“Membership for College Democrats recently skyrocketed, but only because of the upcoming presidential elections.

It’s important to maintain some degree of conversation year-round.”

According to Hill, there are about 60 members in College Democrats this year. In previous years, it only had about 20 members at each meeting.

Although membership spikes slightly around each presidential election, Hill said this is the highest its membership has been.

“The election has definitely caught the interest of a lot of students because we’re going to be jumping into careers and starting families soon,” Hill said.

“All these decisions that are being made currently are going to affect our future lives.”

Although the event had a strong focus for the upcoming 2016 election, Hill is optimistic that this political awareness among students will extend beyond presidential campaigns.

“I’m hopeful,” Hill said. “I think young voters are sick of watching debates for entertainment, they want to talk about policies that will affect their lives, regardless of political party.”

The Pitt News Editor-in-Chief DANIELLE FOX

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September 23, 2015

4

Accessible, pg. 2 Pitt’s campus are accessible for people with disabilities, according to the Student Affairs website.

For Amanda Hopcroft, a junior psychology major, the statistics on the lack of accessibility in Oakland were the most shocking aspect of the lecture.

“I did not expect it to be that bad,” Hopcroft said. “It is astounding and disappointing to me that this is happening here, amidst so many education providers and medical experts.”

According to the speakers, one of the hardest parts about changing the public’s perception of disabilities is the lack of access to places for disabled individuals, which blocks off main routes to connect with people .

Snyder said one avenue for change is to stop avoiding education for people with disabilities, particularly those with mental disabilities.

“People with disabilities can be

misled very easily,” Snyder said.

“Parents are afraid of talking about it.”

To start the change, Snyder showed students a glimpse into the life of a person with disabilities by telling them the words that are often used to describe their community.

The words highlighted included “invisible,” “ignored,” “incompatible” and “invalid.”

“If that is how the culture views you, good luck making that change,” Snyder said.

Snyder closed her lecture with encouragement for students to take the responsibility of improving rights for people with disabilities into their own hands.

“Students play a huge role,” Snyder said. “[Students] are going to shape the future and should be looking at the lack of accessibility for, visibility of and general education of disabled people.”

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Opinions

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from the editorial board

PA’s language proposal will unfairly limit minority residents Pennsylvania is facing a budget crisis, and Rep. Ryan Warner (R-Fayette) thinks he has found the solution — make English the official language of the state.

On Monday, the House Committee held a hearing to discuss a bill, proposed by Warner, that would make English the official state language in Pennsylvania. The bill would also require all state government documents to be written in English. According to Warner, in an interview with WESA, Pittsburgh’s NPR station, the bill would save money typically spent on hiring interpreters and translators to rewrite legislation and other government documents in other languages.

“We cannot go to the citizens of Pennsylvania and ask them for more money without turning over every stone and without looking at every option for reducing the cost of state government,” Warner said.

Just how much money the bill would save Pennsylvania is unclear — Warner was unavailable for comment — but its human rights costs are astronomically high.

The bill itself says little about money, simply determining that the money saved in translation costs is in the best interest of Pennsylvania’s budget.

“Government has a fiduciary responsibility to the citizenry to ensure that it operates as efficiently as

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possible, and the growth of multiple language bureaucracies and printing represents an abrogation of this fiduciary responsibility,” is written in Section 2: Legislative Findings.

This may be true, but the government also has a responsibility to adequately equip and inform its residents.

Pennsylvania has a minority population that relies on these translation services. In 2013, the U.S. Census Bureau determined that 6 percent of Pennsylvania’s population was foreign born. At the time, 10.3 percent of Pennsylvania’s population spoke a language other than English at home.

These residents have the right to access — and comprehend — legal resources. Without state-provided translation resources, residents with limited English proficiency will be at a disadvantage.

If Pennsylvania requires these residents to self-translate legal documentation, Pennsylvania is equally at a disadvantage, as self-translation could result in misinterpretation.

The only exceptions to this proposal are when it comes to documents related to matters of public safety, the judicial system or tourism efforts. While these exceptions prevent misinterpretation in necessary circumstances, the proposal still limits minority residents from full participation in Pennsylvania’s society.

Robert Vandervoort, executive director of ProEnglish, a lobbying group that supports making English the country’s official language, said in an interview with WESA that this legislation will encourage assimilation.

“It tells people that when you come here, you learn English [and] you become part of our society,” Vandervoort said.

Pennsylvania shouldn’t require its residents to learn English to become a part of society. Their status as residents of the state and the taxes they pay make them just as integral a member of society as English-speaking residents.

If the bill becomes law, it will do the opposite of encouraging assimilation. The bill sends immigrants a strong message — that they are not welcome and Pennsylvania will not accommodate them.

Rep. Pamela DeLissio (D-Montgomery) said the bill’s purpose goes too far considering its unforeseeable benefits.

“We’ve already established that we don’t know that this is saving any material money,” DeLissio said in an interview with WESA. If Pennsylvania wants to address its budget crisis, cutting corners on minority provisions is not the solution.

Pinching pennies is one thing — cinching liberties is another.

September 23, 2015

ANTIMUSLIM SENTIMENT: FORGOTTEN REMNANT OF 9/11 Alyssa Lieberman Columnist

Within a week of the 14th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, a homemade clock in Irving, Texas, reminded us of the antiMuslim sentiment piercing our country.

On Sept. 16, 14-year-old Texan, Ahmed Mohamed, brought a clock he had built at home to MacArthur High School, where he is a freshman, to show to his engineering teacher. The device made a sound in his English class, and he was prompted to show his teacher the source of the sound. After the teacher commented that it looked like a bomb, officers detained Mohamed. Instead of praising his accomplishment, the school administration suspended him.

The unjust treatment of Mohamed is simply a symptom of a larger problem.

In the past few years, anti-Muslim sentiment has become an undercurrent in American society and American politics.

We need to recognize it before we can See Lieberman on page 7

6

Lieberman, pg. 6 work to end this tenet of racism and religious intolerance within society.

Following 9/11, anti-Muslim sentiment is an undeniable aspect of our culture. The attacks ushered in an era of prejudice and discrimination for many Muslim Americans, as many Americans began to use Islam as a scapegoat for the frightening reality of terrorism on American soil.

According to a Gallup report titled “Islamophobia: Understanding ding Anti-Muslim Sentiment in the West,” 52 percent of Americans cans do not believe the western world respects Muslim societies. Additionally, 48 percent of Muslims ms reported they were subjected to discrimination within the past ast year. Muslims are twice as likeely as Catholics, Jews and Prottestants to experience such h discriminatory treatment.

According to statisticss from the FBI’s Uniform m Crime Reports program,, anti-Muslim hate crimes aree five times more likely to oc-cur today than prior to 9/11.

1.

Just last year, three young Mususlim Americans — Deah Barakat, arakat, his wife Yusor Mohammad and nd her sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha bu-Salha — were murdered in what was likely a hate crime in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The initial silence of national ional media outlets forced Americans to take to the streets with vigils and ralliess to declare “Muslim Lives Matter.”

Backlash against the Chapell Hill hate h t crime touched life at Pitt. Pitt’s Muslim Lives Matter vigil gave students a chance to reflect on the solidarity of their experiences.

Alaa Mohamed, a senior sociology and global studies major at Pitt who was involved in the organization of the Muslim Lives Matter vigil, said of the hate crime, “Razan Diya and Yusor embody us, and we embody them. We have Muslims at Pitt who wear the hijab, just like

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Yusor and Razan. We have Muslims at Pitt in the dentistry school. Almost every single Muslim at Pitt has dealt with discrimination at one point or another.”

This month, the nation rallied to Ahmed Mohamed’s defense following his suspension. President Barack Obama granted him an invitation to the White House. Major figures like Hillary Clinton and Mark Zuckerberg have voiced their support for his innovation.

Unfortunately, we must remind poli-

that ticians “Muslim Lives Matter.” ter” The Republican Party has capitalized on anti-Islamic rhetoric that feeds into anti-Muslim culture. Throughout Obama’s presidency, certain members of the political right have circulated rumors of his Muslim heritage. According to a CNN poll, 43 percent of Republicans still believe that Obama is Muslim. These allegations are false, but they also highlight anti-Islamic culture. The creation of these rumors stems from the Repub-

peace,” Wakilpoor, a senior English writing and neuroscience major said. “There is no way you can claim Islam is violent or radical after reading the Quran.”

What hasn’t been peaceful, however, is the treatment that Muslims continue to receive.

According to Alaa Mohamed, “The presidential candidates are now talking openly about us like we aren’t Americans. Like we’re not even human. As we preach equality for every other group, Muslims are being disregarded to a point that’ss disgusti disgusting ... but also terrifying to that us.”

Most recently, current presidential candidate Ben Carson declared that he did not believe that the United States should elect a Muslim president, saying that Islam iis not consistent with the Constitution. This statement Co ignores the fact that there is no igno religious requirement associated religio with the t presidency.

Social media has served to inSoc crease awareness of anti-Muslim sentiment. After the recent annisentimen of 9/11, #afterseptember11 versary o trended on o twitter. Many Muslim Americans used the hashtag to share painful stories of the impact their pain America’s anti-Muslim culture that Ame has had in their daily lives.

One of the most circulated tweets from @razakomari reads, f “#afterseptember11 I grew up with“#afterse Maddy Kameny | Staff Illustrator because someone with a gun out a mom b (R-SC), Graham (R SC) the reality is that decided that she s needed to answer for it “young men from the Mid East are dif- with her life.”

If we are going to continue to chamferent from Kim Davis, and we’ve got to pion the United States as the land of understand that.”

Unlike what some politicians may equality, we need to work to make that believe, Mashal Wakilpoor, last year’s a reality for some of its most neglected president of Pitt’s Muslim Student Asso- residents. ciation, said Islam is far from a religion Alyssa primarily writes on social jusrooted in radicalism and violence.

“The word Islam comes from the root, tice and political issues for The Pitt News.

Write to her at aal43@pitt.edu. salam, which means peace. So already the very foundation of our religion is lican assumption that Muslim heritage is inherently bad.

Republicans, despite boasting identities as staunch supporters of the constitution, are often shortsighted when it comes to interpreting the rights of religious freedom.

For a party that disguises acts of bigotry as acts of religious liberty— such as Kim Davis’ refusal to grant same-sex marriage couples wedding licenses — Republicans have no understanding of religious tolerance.

According A Ac cording to Sen. Lindsay Se L indsay

September 23, 2015

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column

Sports

NARD-NOSED DEFENSE The development of Pat Narduzzi’s defense is more than enough reason to buy into the new coach.

by Dan Sostek |Sports Editor

All honeymoons end.

The moment newly hired Pitt football head coach Pat Narduzzi began to speak at his introductory press conference on Dec. 26, the signal caller’s enthusiasm and vigor enthralled Panther fans. It was a stark contrast to former head coach Paul Chryst, who has a more reserved demeanor.

The love for Pitt’s newest leader only grew as the offseason went on. He’s a local guy, from Youngstown, Ohio. He wears his emotions on his sleeves. He tweets. He’s just like us.

Pitt fans were optimistic. After three consecutive 6-6 seasons, many were tabbing eight wins as a minimum this season.

Two sloppy victories over Youngstown State and Akron dulled the excitement but didn’t destroy it.

So when Narduzzi suffered his first career loss as head coach — a last-second loss to Iowa on a 57-yard field goal on Saturday — his honeymoon officially ended.

While questions immediately began to arise about play calling and decision making, in context, the loss was perhaps a more encouraging outcome than either of Narduzzi’s previous wins.

Plenty of obstacles have obstructed Narduzzi’s path. But this was Narduzzi’s first real test as a head coach. Facing a veteran in Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz, at a packed Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa, the matchup in a vacuum was already less than ideal.

In terms of a roster, Narduzzi was alPat Narduzzi has brought his defensive prowess to Pitt. ready dealt a bad hand, as he essentially Meghan Sunners | Senior Staff Photographer had two months to both hold on to re-

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September 23, 2015

cruits who had committed to Pitt because of Chryst — defensive back Jordan Whitehead and running back Darrin Hall — while cobbling together the remainder of a recruiting class. Not all of the players currently on the roster were necessarily a fit for Narduzzi or his staff, and he won’t be able to remedy that for another year or two.

Losing star running back James Conner for the season to a torn MCL has also hampered Narduzzi. While Pitt sports a solid offensive line and impressive running back depth, but no matter what the external factors are, losing a Heisman Trophy candidate is a monumental downgrade.

While it may just be press conference coachspeak, Narduzzi hasn’t made any excuses. Instead, he has pieced together a team that on Saturday night, exhibited a showing of physicality and resiliency, Those traits have rarely shown up in the Pitt football landscape in the past few years.

The defense was flying Saturday. In his introductory press conference, Narduzzi said, “When you play Pitt, you’ll know you were in a brawl.” Iowa undoubtedly felt that in its win.

After the game, Ferentz said he knew Narduzzi’s defense would be physical.

“They are a pressure defense. They are very aggressive. They are very physical,” Ferentz said. “And if you’re going to beat these guys, [you have to take some shots from them].”

Every player, from sophomore defenSee Narduzzi on page 10

8

PANTHERS EDGE RMU IN DOUBLE OVERTIME

Tobias Marshall-Heyman dribbles off balance against Robert Morris. Meghan Sunners | Senior Staff Photographer

Joe Rokicki

There were plenty of opportunities at the net for the Panthers in regulation, but they couldn’t capitalize. Alfery collected 11 saves on The Panthers hadn’t scored in 280 minutes. the night.

In Tuesday’s game against cross-city rivals The Panthers continued their tremendous Robert Morris, senior midfielder Patrick Dixon play against nonconference opponents, highlined up Pitt’s 12th corner kick of the night. He lighted by formidable defense and aggressive approached and sent a ball toward the middle goaltending. Through five nonconference of the box. A barrage of Colonials and Panthers games, the Panthers have outshot opponents jostled for position. Freshman forward Tobias 36-14.

Marshall-Heyman peaked over the bundle of Offense has been a focal point for head defenders and headed the Panthers 26th shot coach Joe Luxbacher and his team all season past Robert Morris goalkeeper Brenden Alfery long. The emphasis has endured throughout for a nonconference win in the 106th minute. the drought over the past few games.

The drought was over.

“I thought we played well, we passed the ball “It was quite hectic,” Marshall-Heyman and connected. I thought it was a good effort, said. “I didn’t think too much, I just headed it in we got a good win against a good team with a and suddenly it was in the goal.” number of guys contributing,” Luxbacher said.

The Robert Morris Colonials (4-4) fell to Pitt collected 26 total shot attempts on the the Panthers 1-0 in their second straight loss in night, 12 of which were on goal. Robert Morris a double overtime game at Ambrose Urbanic recorded 10 shots, three of which were on goal.

Field.

Panthers dominated much of the first half Both teams were coming off disappointing offensively and maintained consistent posseslosses heading into the match. Robert Morris sion and pressure throughout much of the half, lost a heartbreaker in two overtimes to Lehigh creating ample scoring opportunities as a result. last weekend. The Panthers dropped their GO secONLINE Th TOe first of which came off a corner kick in the ond straight conference game on the road in 27th minute from Dixon to Marshall-Heyman, Boston College on Saturday night in a 2-0 shutwho was unable to score against Alfery. out.

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Dixon launched nearly every one of Pitt’s 12 corner kicks throughout the game — a job usually reserved for junior Romeo Charron.

Charron instead played center back due to the Panthers weakened back four, as senior defender Stephane Pierre and freshman defender Kyle Brathwaite are still sidelined with injuries.

“We didn’t want Romeo out there taking corners and having to sprint back 60 yards, so we had Patty take them from both sides, and he’s very good at it, he can serve a good ball,” Luxbacher said.

Referees called fouls early and often throughout the match. Officials handed Pitt

senior defender Andrew Wright a yellow card in the 31st minute for a horse-collar tackle on Robert Morris sophomore forward Neco Brett, who recorded two of the Colonials’ five shots in the first half. Brett also earned a yellow card in the 39th minute for rifling a shot at Lynd after a whistle.

The second half saw more of the same action, a stifling match between both teams. Robert Morris’ sophomore defender Bennett Jull drew a red card in the 58th minute, and the Colonials had to play the remainder of the contest See Soccer on page 10

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9

Narduzzi, pg. 8 sive back Avonte Maddox to senior linebacker Nicholas Grigsby, bashed Hawkeye ballcarriers and wideouts in a controlled, textbook way, not an undisciplined or flageliciting fashion that type of play can sometimes bring.

Nearly every pass by Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard was well defended, particularly when directed toward Maddox, who is flourishing under Narduzzi’s tutelage.

Grigsby has shined in each contest this year, proving to be a three-down linebacker who can defend the run and pass.

The defense as a whole has made impressive strides each game. At times in week one against Youngstown State, the unit looked confused and gave up a handful of big plays. In week two, the Panthers held Akron to seven points, but you could attribute that to the grimy weather that turned InfoCision Stadium in Akron into an Amazonian swamp.

Against a good offense in a major conference, the defense thrived. It was the most impressive Pitt performance of the

season — even more than Qadree Ollison’s 217 yards on the ground in week one — and it’s because it stemmed from players playing confidently in the right position.

This is a direct result of coaching.

This was why Pitt hired Narduzzi. To transform the defense. Even without Conner, the offense has perhaps the best wide receiver in the nation in Tyler Boyd. The offensive line is stout — thanks in part to Chryst’s solid recruiting of the position.

Whoever is playing quarterback — whether it’s Nathan Peterman or Chad Voytik — will have plenty of time to deliver the ball to No. 23 and let the Clairton, Pennsylvania, native work his magic.

Anyone can figure out how to make that work. Yet it takes a tactician to make the mixed bag of parts on defense function.

Narduzzi — who as a defensive coordinator at Michigan State boasted top ten defenses each of the last four seasons — has simplified the defense, and his players are responding.

The honeymoon might be over, but the Narduzzi-Pitt marriage is on track to be a promising union.

Soccer, pg. 9 short-handed.

Dixon, Marshall-Heyman and freshman defender Curren Page all crashed the net on the ensuing free kick, but Alfery once again bailed out his porous defense.

Alfery stopped a shot from Pitt sophomore midfielder Jack Dickens in the 70th minute to preserve the shutout. Dicken’s shot strayed just wide.

Pitt continued its aggressive offensive presence into the extra minutes. Junior Kevin Murray earned a yellow card in the 96th minute for running into Alfery during the first overtime.

Robert Morris freshman Lucas Puntillo fired a shot off a free kick just wide of the right side of the cage, past a diving Lynd in the 98th minute.

Heading into the second overtime, the Panthers recorded 24 shots and earned 11 corner kicks. Robert Morris managed just nine shots and three corner kicks — a solid stalemate until Marshall-Heyman’s fateful header.

“We didn’t finish chances early,” Luxbacher said. “I thought their goalkeeper played really well.”

Defensively, the Panthers managed to shut out the Colonials with two of their premiere defenders sidelined with injuries. That meant Pitt’s

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September 23, 2015

defense had to collectively step up to shut down Robert Morris’ standout forward Brett, who already has seven goals on the year. “[Brett] is a handful. We man-marked him with Andrew Wright, and Romeo [Cherron] was always covering Andrew and it worked. He’s a very good forward,” Luxbacher said.

Luxbacher is uncertain if Kyle Brathwaite will be available for Friday night’s match at Syracuse.

Despite the Panthers’ success versus nonconference opponents this season, they still remain winless in conference play since joining the ACC. Pitt will have another shot to record the historic win against the Orange (4-2-1, 0-1-1 ACC) at 7 p.m. Friday night.

“Part of it is confidence in the ACC. We tend to play with more confidence against non-conference teams, then you get into the ACC and all these teams are ranked, and we don’t play with as much confidence and we start to make mistakes,” Luxbacher said.

Senior goalkeeper and team captain Dan Lynd is having a remarkable season against nonconference opponents as well. Last night’s shutout was Lynd’s 13th of his career and fifth this season.

“This win and shutout was huge for us to regain our confidence. It’s going to be a bigger test against Syracuse, but I think we’re going to be ready,” Lynd said.

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