Pitt to Continue Homestand with Delaware

Monday, September 9

Pittsburgh, Pa.

7 PM

Pitt

Delaware

Tickets

Photo by: Olivia Ramirez

Pitt to Continue Homestand with Delaware

9/8/2019 5:37:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Game Notes ACCNX Live Stats

Panthers to Host Blue Hens Monday Night

PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh men's soccer team will continue its homestand with a match against Delaware 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 9 at Ambrose Urbanic Field.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Monday's game will be broadcast live on ACCNX and may be viewed by clicking here.
Live stats for Monday can be found here.
Fans can also follow the match with live updates on Twitter.

LAST TIME OUT

Pitt earned a 3-0 victory over Liberty in its home opener Friday, Sept. 6 at Ambrose Urbanic Field.
The Panthers opened the scoring quickly, with junior Edward Kizza heading in a cross from junior Matt Bailey in the third minute to give Pitt the early 1-0 lead. Goals from freshman Veljko Petkovic in the 31st minute and freshman Josh Hesson in the 82nd minute would then lead to the 3-0 win.
Hesson closed the match with a team-high five shots, while Bailey added four. Kizza and Petkovic each collected three shots, with redshirt sophomore Chad Stout and sophomore Rodrigo Almeida both recording two in the contest. Senior Braden Kline, junior Alexander Dexter and redshirt sophomore Tim Townsend each added a shot apiece in the matchup.
In goal, sophomore keeper Alexander Steinbach recorded the clean sheet while collecting one save in 90 minutes of action.

SIZING UP THE 2019 SLATE

Pitt faces some tough competition in the 2019 season, with a schedule that includes 10 NCAA Tournament teams and two NCAA College Cup squads from a year ago.
The Panthers faced No. 2 Indiana in their season-opener, and are set to square off with nine other teams either ranked or receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Poll in No. 1 Wake Forest, No. 5 Duke, No. 7 Virginia, No. 10 Virginia Tech, No. 11 Notre Dame, No. 20 North Carolina, No. 21 Akron, RV Denver and RV Boston College.

SYNOPSIS OF THE SQUAD

Pitt returns 14 players from a season ago in senior Alex Peperak, juniors Alexander Dexter, Edward Kizza and Sito Sena, redshirt sophomores Chad Stout and Tim Townsend, sophomores Rodrigo Almeida, Johan Penaranda, Nyk Sessock, Alexander Steinbach, Chandler Vaughn and Jackson Walti and redshirt freshmen Anthony Harding and Alec Townsend.
Both Kizza and Vaughn earned numerous accolades following the conclusion of the 2018 season, with Kizza being selected to the All-ACC First Team and All-Region Second Team and Vaughn being voted to the ACC All-Freshman Team, while both players earned All-ACC Academic Team honors.
The Panthers also welcome 12 newcomers in senior Braden Kline, redshirt juniors Arie Ammann and Tim Ekpone, juniors Matt Bailey and Bryce Washington and freshmen Lucas Cyriacus, Josh Hesson, Luke Mort, Valentin Noel, Arturo Ordonez, Veljko Petkovic and Sebastian Serpa.
The team's four transfer additions come from Penn State (Ammann), Providence (Kline), Rutgers (Washington) and UMBC (Bailey). Ekpone, who competed for the Panthers in 2017, will be rejoining the team for its 2019 campaign.

KIZZA COMMANDING ATTENTION

Junior Edward Kizza closed out his 2018 campaign tied for third in program history for single-season goals (15) while ranking fifth in points (30).
Kizza ranked fifth in goals nationally, ninth in shot accuracy (.622) and 11^th in points per game (1.67), while ranking first in each category among ACC players.
The historic season led Kizza to First Team All-ACC honors, Second Team All-Region recognition and a spot on the All-ACC Academic Team.
Through three games, Kizza paces the team in shots (11), shots on goal (seven), points (six) and goals (three).
The Kampala, Uganda, native picked up right where he left off to start the 2019 season, recording a brace against No. 2 Indiana in the squad's season-opener Friday, Aug. 30. In the match, Kizza recorded the fastest consecutive goals in program history after scoring at the 35:24 and 35:31 mark, with the seven-second difference besting the old record of 34 seconds set by Michael Tuohy and John Cordier in 2013.

FRESHMEN FOCUS

The Panthers freshmen class has made an immediate impact through the first three games of the 2019 season.
Five freshmen have already seen playing time through the early stretch of the season in Lucas Cyriacus, Josh Hesson, Valentin Noel, Arturo Ordonez and Veljko Petkovic, with starts from Noel (three), Hesson (two), Petkovic (one) and Ordonez (one).
Two of Pitt's five goals on the year have also been scored by freshmen, with Hesson and Petkovic recording one apiece, while junior Edward Kizza has collected the other three goals.

THE SERIES – DELAWARE

The Panthers and Blue Hens have met twice in program history, with Pitt owning a 2-0 all-time record against Delaware.
The two teams' first meeting came in 2012, with Pitt collecting a 1-0 home victory over Delaware.
The squads also clashed last season, with the Panthers earning a 6-1 road win.

SCOUTING THE BLUE HENS

Delaware enters Monday's contest with a 1-1 record, most recently picking up a marquee 1-0 win over No. 24 West Virginia Monday, Sept. 2.
The Blue Hens closed out their 2018 campaign with a 5-11-1 overall record, including a 4-3-1 mark in CAA play.
Delaware is coached by Ian Hennessy, who owns a 102-117-30 record during his time with the Blue Hens.
Through two games, junior Rex Twum owns the Blue Hens' lone goal, while junior Ryan Mertz owns the sole assist.
In goal, sophomore Renan Thomazo has started both matches, collecting 10 saves while allowing five goals.

TICKETS NOW ON SALE

Flex season tickets for all nine regular season home matches are available to purchase for $30. The package includes nine tickets that can be used traditionally (one ticket/game) or in any combination (3 tickets/3 games, 9 tickets/1 game, etc). Season ticket holders will also receive a Pitt soccer scarf. Single game tickets for all home matches are now available as well. Purchases may be made online at pittsburghpanthers.com/tickets or by calling the Panthers Ticket Office at 800-643-7488.

UP NEXT

The Panthers will continue their homestand while opening up ACC play with a match against No. 1 Wake Forest 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 13 at Ambrose Urbanic Field.

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