Off Script: Building a Legacy
10/19/2017 1:00:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Pitt Men's Soccer Revived Under Vidovich
Soccer, generally speaking, is a simple sport to conceptualize. Two teams, comprised of 11 players each, have 90 minutes to work together to put a ball into a net more than their opponents—without using their hands.
But perhaps no sport fluidly combines strategy and athleticism as much as soccer, increasing the importance of teamwork and understanding between athletes throughout the course of a game.
For second-year Pitt men's soccer head coach Jay Vidovich, whose program has been a revelation on campus in recent weeks following victories over No. 7 Notre Dame, No. 13 Columbia, No. 21 Syracuse and wins against rivals West Virginia and Penn State, developing that all-important on-field chemistry begins at practice.
"Our goal is to be constructive rather than destructive," Vidovich says of his team's desired playing style. "In practice, the speed of play is very important. We keep the intensity high and the play compact. Training should not be easy. When we practice correctly, games should be easier than practice."
The Panthers haven't happened upon many easy games this season – except perhaps their 7-0 demolition of West Virginia on Sept. 26. However, results are showing that Vidovich's coaching staff is doing something right in practice with the youthful Pitt squad, which featured five freshmen and two sophomores making significant contributions in the recent 1-0 victory at No. 7 Notre Dame to earn Pitt's first win over a top-10 team since 2000.
The triumph at Notre Dame was far from the only time Pitt has made history this season.
The 7-0 win in the Backyard Brawl was Pitt's first over WVU since 2000 and marked the Panthers' largest ever margin of victory against the Mountaineers. A 2-1 success over No. 21 Syracuse on Sept. 29, Pitt's first ACC win in program history, was quickly followed by a 1-0 victory at No. 13 Columbia on Oct. 3. Whereas Pitt had defeated just two ranked teams in the previous 15 seasons, the Panthers matched that in the span of a week this season before then toppling a third ranked opponent in the No. 7 Irish.
In analyzing the remarkable turnaround of the Pitt men's soccer program after last season's difficult 2-13-3 campaign, Vidovich credits the players' ability to keep seeking improvement each day.
"Last year, we weren't able to exactly execute our goal of playing aggressive, attacking soccer in many games," explains Vidovich, who won a national title as the head coach at Wake Forest in 2007. "But we kept working on it; we never lost faith in wanting to be an attacking team. The results weren't there, but we kept improving. That signaled to the returning players and the newcomers that progress was being made, that we weren't far away."
Those improvements last season started from the back, with fine defensive efforts in a 1-0 defeat at No. 2 North Carolina and a 0-0 stalemate tie against No. 16 Virginia at the end of last year, showcasing a team that was beginning to compete in the top conference of collegiate men's soccer. Despite suffering five losses by a 1-0 margin, Pitt only conceded more than two goals twice last season.
This season, with the addition of several talented young attackers, the goals have started to flow for Pitt.
The Panthers fired seven past West Virginia and scored three goals in an overtime win over Penn State on Oct. 10. Fourteen of Pitt's 20 goals this season have been scored by freshmen, including the winning strikes in all three victories over ranked teams.
"We're still very young," Vidovich says. "Over the last few weeks, we've learned to win. I wouldn't say our soccer has improved vastly in the past month, but we're much better at managing the game and doing the little things that it takes to win."
While the newcomers are the ones scoring the majority of Pitt's goals, the veteran knowhow that is helping the Panthers produce results in close contests comes from the team's experienced players. The older corps has had a substantial influence on the fantastic freshmen, according to Vidovich.
"We're very fortunate to have veterans like Bryce Cregan and Mauriq Hill, who brought much-needed maturity to our program," he says. "Then we added players like Javi Perez, who has been in big locker rooms in Spain. Pol Planellas is another key player with experience. Then you add in young guys like Marcony Pimentel and Edward Kizza, who are not only talented but just good guys as well, and that mixture of experience and youth makes us a balanced family."
So how did a program that had gone nearly a decade without a winning season go from ACC strugglers to NCAA Tournament hopefuls? Through lots of hard work in training and, of course, recruiting.
"What do we sell to recruits?" Vidovich begins. "We sell our vision. We sell the ACC. We sell a wonderful city. We sell a top-notch academic degree and our tremendous Life Skills program. And, we sell an opportunity to make history. That's what Pitt men's soccer has to offer."
For Cregan, a senior central defender who serves as Pitt's team captain, committing to Vidovich's vision for the program was an easy decision when he transferred from Akron ahead of the 2016 campaign.
"It wasn't hard at all to buy into coach's recruiting pitch," Cregan says of Vidovich. "He admitted that we had a lot of work to do. I appreciated his honesty, and it sounded like a cool idea to be a trailblazer for the program. I also liked his desired playing style and who he was as a person. He's probably one of the best coaches to ever coach college soccer. He's a guy that players want to play for."
The instant injection of talent into the Pitt men's soccer program has paid immediate dividends for Vidovich and his coaching staff, which includes assistants Michael Behonick and Rich Costanzo and volunteer assistant Lukas Petersen.
The Panthers currently own the nation's 14th-best Rating Percentage Index and are on the cusp of the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 poll, receiving votes in the latest poll Oct. 17.
At the beginning of the season, following hard-fought, one-goal losses to Ohio State and James Madison, achieving the team's goal of reaching the 2017 NCAA Tournament seemed farfetched. But six wins in the last eight matches have given the Panthers a chance of reaching the 48-team field to compete for a national title in November and December.
With Pitt's résumé including an impressive strength of schedule and several quality wins, the Panthers have one final hurdle to ensure their place in the NCAA Tournament: finishing with a winning record. With three regular season matches remaining—at No. 10 Virginia on Oct. 20 and home games against No. 19 Akron (Oct. 24) and Virginia Tech (Oct. 27)—and the ACC Tournament looming, Pitt still has work to do.
"We will take it one game at a time," Cregan adds. "We know how important these games are. But now we know we belong. We always believed that, but the wins over Syracuse and Notre Dame really boosted our confidence going into these final games."
"We're happy with what we've accomplished so far this season, sure," Vidovich says. "But I definitely wouldn't say that we're satisfied. We are always working hard to get our next win. We know we still need to win matches down the stretch. Our backs are still against the wall. These final matches will be a great test of just how far we have come in our growth process this season."
That growth all begins with the man at the helm, Vidovich, who describes his coaching philosophy as less "chess-piece tactician" and more process-oriented developer, with a focus on daily improvement and full commitment to the cause.
"There's a saying that 'a team is a reflection of its coaching staff,'" he says. "Well if that's the case, then I couldn't be any more proud of this group. The way these guys compete and sacrifice themselves for each other to grind it out for the team has been great to watch."
That type of collective attitude, combined with the execution of a soccer ideology that mimics the forward-thinking, creative style played in countries like Brazil and the Netherlands, is what can ultimately lift the Pitt men's soccer program to another level—a championship-contending level.
"We can't guarantee a championship," admits Vidovich. "In sports, especially soccer, there are too many moving pieces. But, our goal has always been to make Pitt soccer a championship-caliber program—every day. From the way we schedule, to the way we practice, to holding players to high standards academically. Everything we do is with improvement in mind—both short term and long term."
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But perhaps no sport fluidly combines strategy and athleticism as much as soccer, increasing the importance of teamwork and understanding between athletes throughout the course of a game.
For second-year Pitt men's soccer head coach Jay Vidovich, whose program has been a revelation on campus in recent weeks following victories over No. 7 Notre Dame, No. 13 Columbia, No. 21 Syracuse and wins against rivals West Virginia and Penn State, developing that all-important on-field chemistry begins at practice.
"Our goal is to be constructive rather than destructive," Vidovich says of his team's desired playing style. "In practice, the speed of play is very important. We keep the intensity high and the play compact. Training should not be easy. When we practice correctly, games should be easier than practice."
The Panthers haven't happened upon many easy games this season – except perhaps their 7-0 demolition of West Virginia on Sept. 26. However, results are showing that Vidovich's coaching staff is doing something right in practice with the youthful Pitt squad, which featured five freshmen and two sophomores making significant contributions in the recent 1-0 victory at No. 7 Notre Dame to earn Pitt's first win over a top-10 team since 2000.
The triumph at Notre Dame was far from the only time Pitt has made history this season.
The 7-0 win in the Backyard Brawl was Pitt's first over WVU since 2000 and marked the Panthers' largest ever margin of victory against the Mountaineers. A 2-1 success over No. 21 Syracuse on Sept. 29, Pitt's first ACC win in program history, was quickly followed by a 1-0 victory at No. 13 Columbia on Oct. 3. Whereas Pitt had defeated just two ranked teams in the previous 15 seasons, the Panthers matched that in the span of a week this season before then toppling a third ranked opponent in the No. 7 Irish.
HE SHOOTS AND SCORES!
— Pitt Men's Soccer (@Pitt_MSOC) October 14, 2017
It was another historic night for the Panthers!#H2P pic.twitter.com/lQUcdSbYsz
In analyzing the remarkable turnaround of the Pitt men's soccer program after last season's difficult 2-13-3 campaign, Vidovich credits the players' ability to keep seeking improvement each day.
"Last year, we weren't able to exactly execute our goal of playing aggressive, attacking soccer in many games," explains Vidovich, who won a national title as the head coach at Wake Forest in 2007. "But we kept working on it; we never lost faith in wanting to be an attacking team. The results weren't there, but we kept improving. That signaled to the returning players and the newcomers that progress was being made, that we weren't far away."
Those improvements last season started from the back, with fine defensive efforts in a 1-0 defeat at No. 2 North Carolina and a 0-0 stalemate tie against No. 16 Virginia at the end of last year, showcasing a team that was beginning to compete in the top conference of collegiate men's soccer. Despite suffering five losses by a 1-0 margin, Pitt only conceded more than two goals twice last season.
This season, with the addition of several talented young attackers, the goals have started to flow for Pitt.
The Panthers fired seven past West Virginia and scored three goals in an overtime win over Penn State on Oct. 10. Fourteen of Pitt's 20 goals this season have been scored by freshmen, including the winning strikes in all three victories over ranked teams.
"We're still very young," Vidovich says. "Over the last few weeks, we've learned to win. I wouldn't say our soccer has improved vastly in the past month, but we're much better at managing the game and doing the little things that it takes to win."
While the newcomers are the ones scoring the majority of Pitt's goals, the veteran knowhow that is helping the Panthers produce results in close contests comes from the team's experienced players. The older corps has had a substantial influence on the fantastic freshmen, according to Vidovich.
"We're very fortunate to have veterans like Bryce Cregan and Mauriq Hill, who brought much-needed maturity to our program," he says. "Then we added players like Javi Perez, who has been in big locker rooms in Spain. Pol Planellas is another key player with experience. Then you add in young guys like Marcony Pimentel and Edward Kizza, who are not only talented but just good guys as well, and that mixture of experience and youth makes us a balanced family."
So how did a program that had gone nearly a decade without a winning season go from ACC strugglers to NCAA Tournament hopefuls? Through lots of hard work in training and, of course, recruiting.
"What do we sell to recruits?" Vidovich begins. "We sell our vision. We sell the ACC. We sell a wonderful city. We sell a top-notch academic degree and our tremendous Life Skills program. And, we sell an opportunity to make history. That's what Pitt men's soccer has to offer."
For Cregan, a senior central defender who serves as Pitt's team captain, committing to Vidovich's vision for the program was an easy decision when he transferred from Akron ahead of the 2016 campaign.
"It wasn't hard at all to buy into coach's recruiting pitch," Cregan says of Vidovich. "He admitted that we had a lot of work to do. I appreciated his honesty, and it sounded like a cool idea to be a trailblazer for the program. I also liked his desired playing style and who he was as a person. He's probably one of the best coaches to ever coach college soccer. He's a guy that players want to play for."
The instant injection of talent into the Pitt men's soccer program has paid immediate dividends for Vidovich and his coaching staff, which includes assistants Michael Behonick and Rich Costanzo and volunteer assistant Lukas Petersen.
The Panthers currently own the nation's 14th-best Rating Percentage Index and are on the cusp of the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 poll, receiving votes in the latest poll Oct. 17.
At the beginning of the season, following hard-fought, one-goal losses to Ohio State and James Madison, achieving the team's goal of reaching the 2017 NCAA Tournament seemed farfetched. But six wins in the last eight matches have given the Panthers a chance of reaching the 48-team field to compete for a national title in November and December.
With Pitt's résumé including an impressive strength of schedule and several quality wins, the Panthers have one final hurdle to ensure their place in the NCAA Tournament: finishing with a winning record. With three regular season matches remaining—at No. 10 Virginia on Oct. 20 and home games against No. 19 Akron (Oct. 24) and Virginia Tech (Oct. 27)—and the ACC Tournament looming, Pitt still has work to do.
"We will take it one game at a time," Cregan adds. "We know how important these games are. But now we know we belong. We always believed that, but the wins over Syracuse and Notre Dame really boosted our confidence going into these final games."
"We're happy with what we've accomplished so far this season, sure," Vidovich says. "But I definitely wouldn't say that we're satisfied. We are always working hard to get our next win. We know we still need to win matches down the stretch. Our backs are still against the wall. These final matches will be a great test of just how far we have come in our growth process this season."
That growth all begins with the man at the helm, Vidovich, who describes his coaching philosophy as less "chess-piece tactician" and more process-oriented developer, with a focus on daily improvement and full commitment to the cause.
"There's a saying that 'a team is a reflection of its coaching staff,'" he says. "Well if that's the case, then I couldn't be any more proud of this group. The way these guys compete and sacrifice themselves for each other to grind it out for the team has been great to watch."
That type of collective attitude, combined with the execution of a soccer ideology that mimics the forward-thinking, creative style played in countries like Brazil and the Netherlands, is what can ultimately lift the Pitt men's soccer program to another level—a championship-contending level.
"We can't guarantee a championship," admits Vidovich. "In sports, especially soccer, there are too many moving pieces. But, our goal has always been to make Pitt soccer a championship-caliber program—every day. From the way we schedule, to the way we practice, to holding players to high standards academically. Everything we do is with improvement in mind—both short term and long term."
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