PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Hofstra University men’s magical 2021 season ended in a 4-0 loss to fifth-seeded University of Pittsburgh in the third round of the NCAA Division I tournament at Ambrose Urbanic Field on Saturday night.

The Pride (18-2-2), which advanced to the third round for the first time in program history, had its 17-game unbeaten streak snapped and was shut out for only the second time this season.

The teams battled for nearly 40 minutes with each side having scoring chances until the Panthers broke through at 39:32 as Flip Mirkovic fired in a shot from distance that bent inside the near post.

Pitt came out of the locker room and drew an early second-half corner kick. Mirkovic sent in the cross that went over the heads of several players and landed at the feet of Raphael Crivello, who chipped a shot into the upper right corner for a 2-0 lead at 48:22.

The Panthers added a goal from Berlin Jacquesson at 62:50 and Crivello completed his brace with an unassisted scored at 67:25 as he banged home his own rebound.

Goalkeeper Wessel Speel made seven saves for Hofstra, which was outshot, 23-7. Nico Campuzano had one save for Pitt.

The game marked the end of the Hofstra careers of Matthew Vowinkel, George O’Malley, Storm Strongin and Jack Nuttall.

The Panthers will face the winner of Sunday’s Wake Forest-Notre Dame game in the quarterfinals next weekend.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.