Pitt Welcomes Louisville for Exhibition Match Saturday

Saturday, September 19

Pittsburgh, Pa.

7 p.m.

Pitt

Louisville

Photo by: Ken Bennett

Pitt Welcomes Louisville for Exhibition Match Saturday

9/17/2020 3:51:00 PM | Men's Soccer

PITTSBURGH – The Pitt men's soccer team hosts Louisville at Ambrose Urbanic Field for the final exhibition match of the fall Saturday, Sept. 19 at 7 PM.

Scouting the Cardinals

The Cardinals and Panthers both finished with overall record of 10-8-2 in 2019, with Louisville advancing to the NCAA Third Round.
Louisville returns a pair of forwards in senior Emil Elveroth and junior Pedro Fonseca. Elveroth finished fifth on the team in points with seven a year ago, scoring three goals and adding an assist. Fonseca, who was named to the 2020 ACC Watch List earlier this month, tallied two goals and an assist in just seven games played last year.
The Cardinals tied, 1-1, to Notre Dame in an exhibition match on the road on Sept. 12.
Louisville begins the regular season Friday, Sept. 25 at home against Wake Forest.

The Series

Louisville leads the all-time series, 5-0, with the last match a 1-0 Cardinals victory in Louisville, Ky.

Panthers Picked Second in North Region

The Panthers were picked to finish second in the ACC North Region, garnering two first-place votes in the process as announced by the conference earlier this week.
Last season, Pitt finished 10-8-2 and earned a trip to the ACC semifinals for the first time in school history. The Panthers clinched a berth to the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship for the first time since 1965 and won their first NCAA Tournament game in program history with a 2-0 decision over Lehigh at home.

Key Returners

Highlighting the returners this season is senior forward Edward Kizza. Kizza, who finished among the top goal scorers in the nation last season (T-20th/12 goals), will look to continue his goal scoring efforts as he sits six goals back from tying Joe Luxbacher's (1971-73) record of 37 career goals as a Panther.
Kizza received numerous accolades in 2019, including All-South Region Second Team, All-ACC First Team, All-ACC Tournament Team and Scholar All-Region East Team. The Kampala, Uganda, native totaled 12 goals, four assists and 31 shots on goal a season ago.
Senior Alexander Dexter returns after leading the Panthers in assists with six. Dexter tallied three goals and 15 shots on goal and finished second behind Kizza in game-winning goals with two.
Sophomore Veljko Petkovic returns after an impressive freshman campaign, where he finished second on the squad in goals (6) and assists (5) while recording 16 shots on goal. The Nis, Serbia, native earned All-ACC Third Team and All-ACC Freshman team recognition.
Also among the returning players is senior Sito Sena, junior Jackson Walti, and sophomores Valentin Noel and Arturo Ordoñez.
Despite playing 10 games last year, Sena was an impact on the pitch by scoring three goals and adding three assists, earning All-ACC Third Team.
Walti, a 2019 captain and one of three players to earn All-ACC Academic Team recognition, returns to help lead the midfield. Walti scored one goal on nine shots a year ago.
Noel and Ordonez each were tabbed to the All-ACC Freshman squad, as Noel finished with three goals and three assists while Ordonez, a core piece to the defense, tallied one assist and finished third on the team in minutes played (1,681).

This Year's Newcomers

The Panthers bring in 15 newcomers, including 12 for the fall season.
Redshirt freshman Louis Spicer and freshmen Lucas Matuszewski and Dominic Reiter joined the squad during the spring, but were unable to compete due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Matuszewski and Reiter both hail from Pennsylvania, with Matuszewski from York (Dallastown HS) and Reiter Sewickley (Quaker Valley). Reiter was named Men's Soccer Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Pennsylvania back in June.
Spicer, a native of Cambridge, England, is a transfer from Maryland.
Of the 12 newcomers, two are graduate students in Nico Campuzano (Cantabria, Spain) and Jasper Löeffelsend (Cologne, Germany), while Raphaël Crivello (Bordeaux, France) and Anass Amrani (Rabat, Morocco) are both sophomores.
The remaining freshmen include Vinicius Belon (Curitiba, Brazil), Brandon Clagette (Atlanta, Ga.), Bertin Jacquesson (Lorrez-Le-Bocage, France), Luis Lara (Mexico City, Mexico), Filip Mirkovic (Belgrade, Serbia), Luke Peperak (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Soshun Shigaki (Tokyo, Japan) and Nathan Stricker (Sinking Spring, Pa.).

Looking Ahead

The Panthers begin the regular season Saturday, Sept. 26 on the road at Notre Dame.
Kick-off is slated for 7 PM, with the game to be broadcasted on the ACCNX.

ABOUT ACC NETWORK
The ACC Network is available through the following video providers: Altice, AT&T, Charter/Spectrum, Cox Cable, DIRECTV, DISH, Google Fiber, Hulu Live TV, Optimum, PlayStation Vue, Sling, Verizon Fios, Vidgo and YouTube TV, among others. All ACCN games will also be available on the ESPN App to authenticated cable subscribers. Fans interested in learning more about ACCN can visit GetACCN.com.

Owned and operated by ESPN in partnership with the Atlantic Coast Conference, ACC Network is a 24/7 national network dedicated to ACC sports that launched Aug. 22, 2019. Approximately 450 live contests including 40 regular-season football games, 150 men's and women's basketball games, and 200 other regular-season competitions and tournament games from across the conference's 27 sponsored sports will be televised annually, plus a complement of news and information shows and original programming. Together, ACC Network's TV and digital platforms featured over 1,000 ACC events in its first year. ESPN has been televising ACC content since 1979 and has exclusive rights to every conference-controlled game across sports and championships.

FAN ATTENDANCE
The University of Pittsburgh was recently informed that fans will not be able to attend the Panthers' games at Ambrose Urbanic Field during the month of September. Pitt is working in concert with health officials and colleagues across the country regarding the possible accommodation of fans for home games after September.

The league's leadership, and its medical advisory group, will continue to meet on a weekly basis to share information and discuss medical issues related to the ACC's return to play. Should any future adjustments be necessary, the ACC Board of Directors will do so at the appropriate time.

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