PITTSBURGH, Pa. – April 13, 2021 – The Chatham men's soccer team found itself in yet another close matchup, this time with the visiting Franciscan Barons. Unfortunately, the Cougars found themselves on the wrong end of a 4-2 final score.
 
It wasn't a great start for the Cougars, allowing two goals in the first half. The first score came in the 11^th minute and the second was tallied in the 37^th. Chatham was outshot in the first half 11-6 and trailed the Barons 2-0.
 
In the second half, the Cougars got a spark. Sophomore Ryan Tahbaz buried his second penalty kick of the season just 2:55 into the second half to slice the deficit in half. 10 minutes later, sophomore Marco Piccolo found classmate Leandro Nasso, who put it in the back of the net to tie the game at 2-2. Despite the scores, Franciscan added goals in the 62^nd and 85^th minutes to put away the Cougars.
 
Chatham was much more aggressive in the second half, outshooting Franciscan 12-9 and narrowly losing the shots battle for the game 20-18 (15-9 on goal). Tahbaz and Nasso combined for six of the nine shots on goal, with the others being tallied by sophomores Emmet Taub and Sam Franke alongside first-year Pascal Despinos.
 
First-year goalkeeper Timmy Creamer allowed four goals but also stopped 11 Baron shots, a new career high.
 
Chatham returns to the pitch for senior night on Friday, April 16 in the penultimate game of the season. The Cougars play host to Thiel College at 7:30 p.m. from UPMC Graham Field.