Women’s Soccer Faces Wake Forest On the Road Thursday

Thursday, October 24

Winston-Salem, NC

7 PM

Pitt

Wake Forest

Photo by: Matt Hawley/Pitt Athletics

Women’s Soccer Faces Wake Forest On the Road Thursday

10/23/2019 2:58:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Game Notes Watch Live Stats

PITTSBURGH – Pitt women's soccer team begins a two-game road trip this week against Wake Forest Thursday at 7 p.m.

HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG

The match will air live on the ACCNX, which is available to view on Watch ESPN.
Fans can also follow live stats HERE.
Updates from the match will also be provided on Twitter. Follow @Pitt_WSOC for the latest news and updates about the team.

LAST TIME OUT

Pitt beat (RV) NC State 2-1 to cap off a successful homestand Saturday night.
Following a shot off the crossbar by Krystyna Rytel in the 20th minute, Celia Lopez headed the ball into the left side of the net over the leaping goalkeeper after it bounced off the ground for her first collegiate goal.
After a free kick sent from midfield by Kate McKay in the 30th minute, Vildan Kardesler sent a volley from just inside the left side of the box that tucked into the left post to double the Panthers' lead.
Amaia Pena made a career-high 11 saves, including nine in the second half.

SCOUTING WAKE FOREST

Wake Forest enters the game with a 5-6-4, 0-4-3 record and tied for last place in the ACC standings with four points and haven't won a game since Sept. 8 against UNCW (2-1).
The Demon Deacons wrapped up a four-game road trip with a 1-0 loss to (RV) Virginia Tech and also lost to No. 19 Louisville (2-1) and Syracuse (2-1, OT) along with a 3-3 tie to Boston College.
Redshirt-sophomore forward Hulda Arnarsdottir leads the team in scoring with seven goals and 16 points, and senior forward Hayley Younginer is second on the team with five goals and three assists.
Senior goalkeeper Meghan Kennedy has received the majority of playing time with 858 minutes and recorded a 3-5-3 record, 1.508 goals against average and 30 saves. Freshman Mia Raben has entered in at halftime the last two games and allowed two goals with 10 saves in 110 minutes of action.

THE SERIES

Wake Forest has won two of the three meetings against Pitt.
The Panthers defeated the then-No. 23 Demon Deacons 2-1 in overtime on Sept. 24 on Sept. 24, 2015.

PENA NAMED DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Amaia Pena became the first Panther to be named ACC Defensive Player of the Week, the league announced Tuesday.
Pena is the third Panther to win any weekly award by the conference and second this season, with Amanda West earning offensive player of the week after the first weekend of the year.
She made a career-high 11 saves in the 2-1 win over (RV) NC State.
With the Panthers clinging to the second-half lead and the field tilted with the Wolfpack putting constant pressure on her, she made nine saves in the second half to prevent NC State from rallying to tie the game up, including four in a five-minute span.
The 11 saves are tied for the most by an ACC goalkeeper this season.
This season she has played 1,045 minutes in 12 games started, including each ACC game. She's notched a 4-5-2 record, 1.55 goals against average, 41 saves and a .695 save percentage.

WEST CONTINUES STRONG START TO FRESHMAN CAMPAIGN

Amanda West has started off her career on a tear for the Panthers as she has notched at least one point in 10 of her first 15 career matches.
West opened up her career with the best debut in program history as she netted a hat-trick and an assist including the game-winner in the 84th minute as Pitt beat Loyola Marymount 5-4. Her seven points are the most in a game by a Pitt player since 2001 and most in Ambrose Urbanic Field history by a Panther.
So far this season, the striker has netted eight goals, eight assists and 24 points along with four game-winning goals. Her 24 points are the second-most, and needs two more to tie Cande Ruiz (1998) for the most.
With eight goals, West ranks tied for fourth-most in a single-year in school history with Ashley Cuba (2011). In game-winning goals, she's tied for third with Ruiz.
In assists she's tied with Roosa Arvas (2012) for third-most and already ranks for ninth in career assists.
In ACC play, she has racked up five assists in seven games. She ranks in the conference tied for first in game-winning goals, second in shots on goal (2.00 per game), tied for second in assists, tied for third in points, fourth in shots (3.20 per game), and tied for fourth in goals.
Earlier this year, West became just the second Panther in program history to earn ACC Offensive Player of the Week honors and the first freshman to do so. The last Panther to earn the weekly recognition was Taylor Pryce in 2015 when she was Co-Offensive Player of the Week.

ACC WINLESS STREAK SNAPPED

On Oct. 10, Pitt snapped a three-year ACC winless streak by defeating Boston College 2-1 in overtime.
Amanda West headed in the golden goal in the 94th minute, off a cross by Cheyenne Hudson.
Pitt went officially three years and one day in-between ACC wins, with the previous victory coming on Oct. 9, 2016 against Miami (1-0 in overtime). The Panthers were 0-25-3 in between the two wins in league action.
The ACC victory was the first for second-year head coach Randy Waldrum.
Three of the last four ACC wins for the Panthers have come in overtime (1-0 over Syracuse on Oct. 11, 2015).

EASY OUT NO MORE

The improvement under coach Waldrum has been evident by the team's results this season. Pitt has proved to be not an automatic win by fellow ACC opponents, but a team that will play tough against anyone, including the nation's best teams.
Last year, the Panthers scored just 11 goals and had a -38 goal differential. In ACC play, they were outscored 42-2 with an average score of 4.2-0.2.
This season, Pitt has scored 20 goals with a -5 goal differential. In seven games of conference action, it has been outscored by only five goals (14-9) with an average score of 2.0-1.3.
The Panthers were held scoreless in all but one league game last year and have scored against five of seven opponents this season.
Last year Pitt lost to Boston College 7-0, NC State 6-0, North Carolina 3-0 and Florida State 4-0. The Panthers this season beat the Eagles and Wolfpack 2-1 and lost only 1-0 at the Seminoles and 3-1 to the Tar Heels.

A TURNING POINT IN CORAL GABLES

After scoring a goal in its season-opener against Syracuse at home, Pitt then went scoreless for a span of 215.5 minutes and gave up seven goals: one to the Orange, four in a loss at Notre Dame and two to Miami.
With the Panthers trailing 2-0 at the Hurricanes, a goal by Sydney Marasco in the 53rd minute sparked a rally for a 3-3 tie, and Pitt has remained competitive since in ACC play.
Since that two-plus game scoreless streak, Pitt has outscored ACC opponents 8-7 with wins over Boston College and NC State and a 1-0 loss at No. 6 Florida State, who ranks 12th in the nation in scoring offense.

FINDING THE RIGHT LINEUP

With a team of 21 newcomers, it will take some time to find the right lineup that will help the Panthers succeed this season.
Through 15 matches, the Panthers have used 14 different starting XI combinations with just three Pitt players starting every match this season.
The Panthers used the same starting lineup in consecutive matches for the first time all season against Saint Joseph's (Sept. 8) and VCU (Sept. 12).
The 14 different combinations have been successful for the Panthers as they have produced 20 goals, nine more than all of last season.

PANTHER CUBS MAKING MOST OF PLAYING TIME

The Panthers are one of the youngest teams in the nation this season with the 21 newcomers, including a 17-player freshman class.
So far this season, Pitt has started nine freshmen in different spots of the lineup. The nine freshman have combined to start 76 matches this season.
Two freshmen have started every match so far this season, Amanda West and Mackenzie Edwards.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN

Prior to the beginning of the 2019 campaign, the Pitt women's soccer team voted on captains for the season and selected Juliana Vazquez and Kentucky transfer Hollie Olding to lead the team this year.
Vazquez is a four-year starter up front for the Panthers as she has appeared in 67 games while notching 58 starts over her impressive career.
Olding joined the Panthers for her junior campaign after spending her last two seasons of collegiate soccer at Kentucky. The England native has been named team captain in each of her three seasons in college as she earned the badge as a freshman and sophomore for the Wildcats. For her career, Olding has appeared in 40 matches while making 24 starts as she has netted four goals and eight points so far in her career.

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