Women’s Soccer Faces No. 15 Clemson On the Road Sunday

PITTSBURGH – Pitt women's soccer team ends a two-game road trip with No. 15 Clemson Sunday at 1 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 dropped a heartbreaker, 3-2 in double overtime at Wake Forest Thursday night.
The Panthers rallied back to send it to overtime, thanks to Amanda West's second goal of the night in the 74th minute.
West scored the game's first goal in the 52nd minute, pouncing on a rebound after Anna Bout's shot hit the crossbar.
Amaia Pena made a career-high 12 saves, the most by an ACC goalkeeper this season.

SCOUTING CLEMSON

The Tigers enter the game with a 9-5-1, 3-5-0 record and sit in ninth place in the ACC standings.
Clemson fell 3-2 in double overtime at Miami Thursday and have lost four of its last five games.
Sophomore defender Renee Guion leads the team in scoring with 13 points, ranking fourth in the nation in assists with 11. Junior forward Mariana Speckmaier has scored a team-high six goals.
Starting senior goalkeeper Sandy MacIver has a 6-4-1 record, 1.21 goals against average, 32 saves and three shutouts.

THE SERIES

Clemson has won all four meetings.
The Tigers have scored two goals in each game and shutout the Panthers all but one time.

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 then-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 were tied for the most by an ACC goalkeeper this season, which she broke with 12 against Wake Forest Thursday.
This season she has played 1,103 minutes in 13 games started, including each ACC game. She's notched a 4-6-2 record, 1.55 goals against average, 53 saves and a .716 save percentage.

NO PANTHER HAS SCORED MORE THAN WEST

Amanda West broke the school's all-time single-season points record Thursday against Wake Forest, scoring two goals for 28 points this season.
West passed Cande Ruiz (1998) at 26 for the most and also tied Ruiz for the most goals in one year with 10.
In assists she's tied with Roosa Arvas (2012) for third-most with eight and already ranks for ninth in career assists.
In game-winning goals, she's tied for third with Ruiz.
She has notched at least one point in 11 of her first 16 career matches.
She opened up her career with the best debut in program history with 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.
In ACC play, she has racked up three goals and five assists for 11 points in eight games. She ranks in the conference tied for first in shots on goal (2.00 per game), tied for second in game-winning goal and assists, third in points, fourth in goals and tied for fifth in shots (3.13 per game).
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 22 goals with a -6 goal differential. In seven games of conference action, it has been outscored by only six goals (17-11) with an average score of 2.1-1.4.
The Panthers were held scoreless in all but one league game last year and have scored against six of eight 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 scored as many goals as its ACC opponents (10-10) 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 16 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).
Pitt used the same starting lineup in the win over Boston College (Oct. 10) in its last game at Wake Forest.
The 14 different combinations have been successful for the Panthers as they have produced 22 goals, 11 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 81 matches this season.
Two freshmen have started every match so far this season, 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 68 games while notching 59 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 41 matches while making 24 starts as she has netted four goals and eight points so far in her career.

UP NEXT

Pitt hosts No. 25 Virginia Tech at Ambrose Urbanic Field Halloween night at 7 p.m. in its regular season finale.

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Women’s Soccer Faces No. 15 Clemson On the Road Sunday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Anna Bout

Mackenzie Edwards

Cheyenne Hudson

Sydney Marasco

Hollie Olding

Amaia Pena

Taylor Pryce

Juliana Vazquez

Amanda West

Women’s Soccer Faces No. 15 Clemson On the Road Sunday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Anna Bout

Mackenzie Edwards

Cheyenne Hudson

Sydney Marasco

Hollie Olding

Amaia Pena

Taylor Pryce

Juliana Vazquez

Amanda West

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