2019 Pittsburgh Panthers men's soccer team

2019 Pittsburgh Panthers men's soccer
2019 Pittsburgh Panthers men's soccer
NCAA Tournament, Second Round
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
U. Soc. Coaches poll	No. RV
TopDrawerSoccer.com	No. RV
Record	10–8–2 (4–3–1 ACC)
Head coach	Jay Vidovich (4th season);
Assistant coaches	Michael Behonick (4th season); Rich Costanzo (3rd season);
Home stadium	Ambrose Urbanic Field
	Seasons ← 2018 2020 →

The 2019 Pittsburgh Panthers men's soccer team represented University of Pittsburgh during the 2019 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. The Panthers were led by head coach Jay Vidovich, in his fourth season. They played home games at Ambrose Urbanic Field. This was the team's 66th season playing organized men's college soccer and their 7th playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

2019 ACC men's soccer standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Atlantic
No. 5 Clemson +	6	–	1	–	1	18	–	2	–	2
No. 3 Wake Forest +	6	–	2	–	0	16	–	5	–	2
NC State +	3	–	4	–	1	9	–	7	–	3
No. 20 Louisville +	3	–	4	–	1	10	–	8	–	2
Boston College +	2	–	4	–	2	9	–	6	–	3
Syracuse +	2	–	4	–	2	8	–	7	–	4
Coastal
No. 2 Virginia ‡	6	–	1	–	1	21	–	1	–	2
Pittsburgh +	4	–	3	–	1	10	–	8	–	2
Notre Dame +	3	–	5	–	0	10	–	8	–	1
North Carolina	3	–	5	–	0	7	–	8	–	3
No. 13 Virginia Tech +	2	–	4	–	2	10	–	6	–	3
Duke	2	–	5	–	1	7	–	9	–	2


‡ – 2019 ACC Tournament champion + – Invited to the 2019 NCAA tournament As of 17 December 2019 Rankings from United Soccer Coaches Source:The ACC

Pitt at Georgetown in the second round of the 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament

Pitt earned their first berth into the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament since 1965.

Background

The 2018 Pittsburgh men's soccer team finished the season with an 8–10–1 overall record and a 2–6–0 ACC record. The Panthers were seeded eleventh–overall in the 2018 ACC Men's Soccer Tournament, where they upset Virginia in the first round before losing to Duke on penalties in the second round.

The Panthers were not invited to the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. The Panthers had one player selected in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft: Javi Pérez, by Los Angeles FC.^[1]

Player movement

Players leaving

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Peter Prescott	2	DF	6'4"	180	Senior	Vancouver, WA	Graduated
Tom Moxham	3	DF	6'0"	165	Senior	Plymouth, England	Graduated
Shane Wiedt	4	DF	6'3"	180	Senior	Akron, OH	Graduated
Joshua Gaspari	5	MF	5'7"	158	Senior	Canberra, Australia	Graduated
Javi Pérez	6	MF	5'8"	158	Senior	Valencia, Spain	Declared for 2019 MLS SuperDraft; selected 64th overall by Los Angeles FC
Robby Dambrot	22	DF	6'1"	166	Senior	Akron, OH	Graduated
Craig Bair	23	DF	5'6"	155	Senior	Brecksville, OH	Graduated

Players arriving

Name	Nat.	Hometown	Club	TDS Rating
Luke Mort FW	USA	Greensburg, PA	Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC	^[2]
Veljko Petković MF	USA	Ridgewood, NY	NYCFC	^[3]

Squad

Roster

Updated August 20, 2019^[4]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
0	GK	USA	Johan Peñaranda
1	GK	USA	Alexander Steinbach
2	DF	USA	Nyk Sessock
3	DF	USA	Chandler Vaughn
4	DF	USA	Bryce Washington
5	DF	ESP	Arturo Ordoñez
6	MF	GER	Lucas Cyriacus
7	MF	USA	Braden Kline
8	MF	FRA	Valentin Noël
9	FW	UGA	Edward Kizza
11	MF	BRA	Rodrigo Almeida
12	FW	ENG	Josh Hesson
13	FW	USA	Alexander Dexter


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
14	DF	ESP	Sito Sena
15	FW	USA	Luke Mort
17	MF	USA	Alec Townsend
18	MF	USA	Tim Townsend
19	MF	SRB	Veljko Petković
20	MF	USA	Matt Bailey
21	MF	USA	Alex Peperak
22	DF	USA	Sebastian Serpa
24	MF	SUI	Jackson Walti
25	DF	USA	Chad Stout
27	DF	USA	Anthony Harding
28	DF	USA	Tim Ekopne
32	GK	USA	Arie Ammann

Team management

Position	Staff
Athletic Director	Heather Lyke
Head Coach	Jay Vidovich
Assistant Coach	Michael Behonick
Assistant Coach	Rich Costanzo

Source:^[4]

Schedule

Source:^[5]

Date Time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (Attendance) City, State
Exhibition
August 17* 7:00 p.m.		Duquesne	W 5–0^[6]	– (–)	Ambrose Urbanic Field Pittsburgh, PA
August 23* 5:00 p.m.		at No. 17 James Madison	W 1–0^[7]	– (–)	Sentara Park Harrisonburg, VA
Regular season
August 30* 8:00 p.m.		at No. 2 Indiana Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic	L 2–3 ^2OT	0–1–0 (0–0–0)	Bill Armstrong Stadium (2,847) Bloomington, IN
September 1* 5:00 p.m.		vs. Northwestern Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic	L 0–1	0–2–0 (0–0–0)	Bill Armstrong Stadium (0) Bloomington, IN
September 6* 7:30 p.m.		Liberty	W 3–0	1–2–0 (0–0–0)	Ambrose Urbanic Field (906) Pittsburgh, PA
September 9* 7:00 p.m.		Delaware	T 3–3 ^2OT	1–2–1 (0–0–0)	Ambrose Urbanic Field (309) Pittsburgh, PA
September 13 7:00 p.m.		No. 1 Wake Forest	L 0–2	1–3–1 (0–1–0)	Ambrose Urbanic Field (913) Pittsburgh, PA
September 16* 7:00 p.m.		Akron	W 1–0	2–3–1 (0–1–0)	Ambrose Urbanic Field (576) Pittsburgh, PA
September 20 5:00 p.m.		at Boston College	W 2–0	3–3–1 (1–1–0)	Newton Soccer Complex (344) Chestnut Hill, MA
September 27 7:00 p.m.		at Syracuse	T 1–1 ^2OT	3–3–2 (1–1–1)	SU Soccer Stadium (1,706) Syracuse, NY
September 30* 7:00 p.m.		Denver	W 3–2 ^2OT	4–3–2 (1–1–1)	Ambrose Urbanic Field (279) Pittsburgh, PA
October 4 7:00 p.m.		No. 20 North Carolina	L 1–2	4–4–2 (1–2–1)	Ambrose Urbanic Field (704) Pittsburgh, PA
October 7* 7:00 p.m.		Howard	W 6–0	5–4–2 (1–2–1)	Ambrose Urbanic Field (207) Pittsburgh, PA
October 11 7:00 p.m.		No. 22 Virginia Tech	W 3–1	6–4–2 (2–2–1)	Ambrose Urbanic Field (621) Pittsburgh, PA
October 15* 7:00 p.m.		at Penn State	L 1–3	6–5–2 (2–2–1)	Jeffrey Field (509) State College, PA
October 18 7:00 p.m.		at No. 1 Virginia	W 2–0	7–5–2 (3–2–1)	Klöckner Stadium (3,201) Charlottesville, VA
October 25 7:00 p.m.		Duke	W 4–3	8–5–2 (4–2–1)	Ambrose Urbanic Field (875) Pittsburgh, PA
November 1 7:00 p.m.		at Notre Dame	L 0–1	8–6–2 (4–3–1)	Alumni Stadium (584) South Bend, IN
ACC Tournament
November 10 3:00 p.m.	(4)	(5) NC State Quarterfinals	W 2–1 ^OT	9–6–2	Ambrose Urbanic Field (1,010) Pittsburgh, PA
November 13 6:00 p.m.	(4) No. 25	at (1) No. 1 Clemson Semifinals	L 0–1	9–7–2	Riggs Field (1,573) Clemson, SC
NCAA Tournament
November 21 7:00 p.m.		Lehigh First Round	W 2–0	10–7–2	Ambrose Urbanic Field (1,321) Pittsburgh, PA
November 24 12:00 p.m.		at (3) No. 2 Georgetown Second Round	L 0–5	10–8–2	Shaw Field (1,497) Washington, D.C.
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Awards and honors

Recipient	Award	Date	Ref.
Edward Kizza	All-ACC First Team	November 13, 2019	^[8]
Veljko Petković	All-ACC Third Team
Sito Sena	All-ACC Third Team
Valentin Noël	All-ACC Freshman Team
Arturo Ordoñez
Veljko Petkovic
Edward Kizza	All-ACC Tournament Team	November 17, 2019	^[9]
Arturo Ordonez	All-ACC Tournament Team	November 17, 2019	^[9]

Rankings

Ranking movement
**Legend:** ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. RV=Others receiving votes.
Poll	Pre	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Wk 16	Final
United Soccer^[10]									RV	RV	RV	25	RV	None Released				RV
TopDrawer Soccer ^[11]											RV				RV	RV	RV	RV

References

^ "Perez Selected by LAFC in 2019 MLS SuperDraft". pittsburghpanthers.com. Pittsburgh Panthers Athletics. January 14, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
^ "Luke Mort". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
^ "Veljko Petkovic". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
^ ^a ^b "2019 Men's Soccer Roster". pittsburghpanthers.com. University of Pittsburgh Athletics. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
^ "2019 Men's Soccer Schedule". pittsburghpanthers.com. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
^ @Pitt_MSOC (August 17, 2019). "Good first test. 👍 Goals: Kizza ➡️ 2 Stout ➡️ 2 Dexter ➡️ 1 Assists: Hesson ➡️ 2 Bailey ➡️ 2 Almeida ➡️ 1 #H2P" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^ @Pitt_MSOC (August 23, 2019). "That's a wrap on preseason play. 👏 Jackson Walti's goal in the second half via Valentin Noel's assist gives the Panthers a 1-0 win over #17 JMU. #H2P" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^ "2019 All-ACC Men's Soccer Team Announced". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. November 13, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
^ "Virginia Wins 2019 ACC Men's Soccer Championship". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. November 17, 2019. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
^ "NCAA DI Men's National Rankings". National Soccer Coaches Association of America. December 17, 2019. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
^ "College Soccer National Rankings". TopDrawer Soccer. December 16, 2019. Retrieved December 16, 2019.

[1] "Perez Selected by LAFC in 2019 MLS SuperDraft". pittsburghpanthers.com. Pittsburgh Panthers Athletics. January 14, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2019.

[2] "Luke Mort". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved July 31, 2019.

[3] "Veljko Petkovic". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved July 31, 2019.

[auto-4] "2019 Men's Soccer Roster". pittsburghpanthers.com. University of Pittsburgh Athletics. Retrieved August 20, 2019.

[5] "2019 Men's Soccer Schedule". pittsburghpanthers.com. Retrieved July 31, 2019.

[6] @Pitt_MSOC (August 17, 2019). "Good first test. 👍 Goals: Kizza ➡️ 2 Stout ➡️ 2 Dexter ➡️ 1 Assists: Hesson ➡️ 2 Bailey ➡️ 2 Almeida ➡️ 1 #H2P" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

[7] @Pitt_MSOC (August 23, 2019). "That's a wrap on preseason play. 👏 Jackson Walti's goal in the second half via Valentin Noel's assist gives the Panthers a 1-0 win over #17 JMU. #H2P" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

[8] "2019 All-ACC Men's Soccer Team Announced". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. November 13, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2019.

[9] "Virginia Wins 2019 ACC Men's Soccer Championship". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. November 17, 2019. Retrieved November 18, 2019.

[10] "NCAA DI Men's National Rankings". National Soccer Coaches Association of America. December 17, 2019. Retrieved December 17, 2019.

[11] "College Soccer National Rankings". TopDrawer Soccer. December 16, 2019. Retrieved December 16, 2019.

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