University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Women's Soccer Makes Strides in 2015
11/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
PITTSBURGH -- Head coach Greg Miller saw a glimpse of the future last spring.
Pitt scrimmaged its extraordinarily young roster against the likes of Wake Forest, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Maryland -- exhibiting a competitiveness that made an impression on the staff.
After a 2014 season that saw the Panthers finish 6-12 overall and claim their first two ACC wins, Miller believed it was only a matter of time before that future became reality.
"I knew at some point we were going to grow," said Miller. "You never know how much or when. All of a sudden one thing leads to the next and confidence starts to grow."
In 2015, Miller's fourth year at the helm, the team's belief in itself emerged on the field. The result was a 10-7-1 campaign -- the winningest in school history -- and a string of eight straight wins.
After starting the year 1-1-1 in its first three contests, Pitt was headed to overtime on the road at Colorado College -- a team that hadn't lost at home in 24 consecutive games. Sophomore midfielder Ashley Moreira willed her way past multiple defenders to hand Pitt the win and, little did she know, kickstart what would become a record win streak.
From Aug. 30 to Sept. 27, the Panthers didn't lose a game -- plowing through the remainder of their non-conference schedule before knocking off NC State, Wake Forest, and Louisville to open ACC play.
Much of that success came on the power of first and second year players, with true freshmen ultimately recording 41 of the team's 84 total points on the year. Freshman Jarena Harmon led the team with seven goals.
"It surprised me to some extent due to our youth and inexperience. You just don't know how freshmen are going to acclimate, fit in with the team, or how their game will blossom. Everyone goes at a different pace, so it was nice to see we were getting about the same level of contribution from our freshmen. That was a huge difference for us, filling in the gaps from last year."
Miller remembers several key turning points during that run.
"Two things stand out to me in terms of defining moments in the season. The Villanova/La Salle weekend really got us over a hump. That was a tough weekend for us to grind through. The second was winning the Wake Forest game with all of their history and tradition coming in here. You just don't know how that's going to go. I was excited about that -- not only the result, but how we played. It really started to get our kids believing that we're a good team and can do some things."
For now, with the conclusion of the year still so close behind them, it's difficult to be satisfied with the big picture of the season's success when the group saw their goals within reach.
"The further I get away from it, the more excited and appreciative I'll be for the season we had, the kids themselves, and the whole body of work."
One of the season's special moments came in the 2-0 victory over NC State as the team's lone senior, Roosa Arvas, etched her name into the record books.
The Finland native delivered a perfect corner kick into the box against the Wolfpack, finished on a header by redshirt freshman Seyla Perez to make Arvas the program's all-time points leader. She would go on to eclipse the school's top career assists mark (20) and wrapped up her career with 56 total points.
Another memorable week featured back-to-back game-winning goals against Wake Forest and Louisville from sophomore forward Taylor Pryce to make her the ACC's Co-Offensive Player of the Week and join TopDrawerSoccer.com's Team of the Week on Sept. 29. It was a decorated week for the Panthers as junior goalkeeper Taylor Francis was the ECAC's Female DI Defensive Player of the Week as well.
Along with such strong individual efforts, the team's overall unity played a large role in its success.
"You try and do everything you can to put them in an environment where they can be successful. Some of it you can control and some of it you can't. I thought we had good chemistry this year. That can help with winning. If winning starts, it can really build a lot of confidence in your team and validate things you're doing as a staff."
The season's challenging second half featured many top-tier opponents, including five of the last seven holding places among the NSCAA's top 25 with an average ranking of 7.6. Among those, the Panthers battled the nation's first and second-ranked teams -- the reigning national champion and runner-up.
Miller was encouraged by the progress of the team in the face of the most elite competition the sport has to offer, and believes the program is closing in on the ACC's leaders.
"While we all want to win more and have more success, at the end of the day it's still a process. We're as close as we've ever been, and now we've got to tweak some things we weren't so good in and really continue to help develop our strengths. We did a lot of great things this year, and we just want to be able to build on that."
Pitt's 2015 will go a long way into cutting further into that shrinking distance.
"Having the year we had will help in future conversations with kids we're interested in because it's no longer a promise. Look at the progress we've made, where we are, and how much we've closed the gap. We're not there yet, but it's a different conversation than we've had the last three years."
