Pitt Faces Navy on the Road

Sunday, September 20

Annapolis, Md.

2 PM

Pitt

Navy

Photo by: Matt Hawley/Pitt Athletics

9/19/2020 2:45:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Game Notes Live Stats Live Stream (ESPN+)

PITTSBURGH – Pitt women's soccer (3-0-0, 1-0-0 ACC) heads back on the road to face Navy (0-0-0, 0-0-0 Patriot League) Sunday at 2 p.m. This is the first of two contests against the Midshipmen, as the two square off in Pittsburgh on Sunday, Oct. 11.

HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG

The game will air live on ESPN+.
Live stats are available through PittsburghPanthers.com.
Updates from the context will also be provided on Twitter. Follow @Pitt_WSOC for the latest news and updates about the team.

STRONG START TO THE SEASON

Pitt is off to a 3-0 start for the first time in program history since winning its four games in the 2009 season.
The Panthers defeated Syracuse 2-0 in their home and ACC opener Thursday and beat Appalachian State twice last weekend on the road with a 4-0 and 7-1 victories for a 13-1 goal aggregate for the season.
Against the Orange, the Panthers had a dominate advantage in shots (27-4) and shots on goals (12-1).
Emily Yaple scored the game-winning and first collegiate goal in the 58th minute, and Amanda West added another goal from a penalty kick in the 76th minute.
The season-opening shutout was biggest-ever margin of victory in a season-opener.
The Panthers had not defeated an opponent by 4+ goals since a 6-1 victory over St. John's on Oct. 9, 2011.
Eight Panthers have scored the 13 combined goals.
The Panthers picked up a second road win of the season, the first since winning three times away from home in 2015.

ACC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Kate McKay was named the first ACC Defensive Player of the Week for the 2020 season.
As a centerback, McKay played a key role in limiting Appalachian State to just one goal and 13 shots.
She also contributed on the offensive side. She recorded her first collegiate multi-assist game in the season-opener and scored her first goal in the following game.

RETURNING FOR PITT IN 2020

The Panthers return seven starters and eight other letterwinners from last year's team that went 5-10-3 overall and 2-6-2 in ACC play.
Amanda West and Mackenzie Edwards started every game last season as freshmen, and Athalie Palomo started in every game played with one game missed due to an injury.
McKay, a transfer from Elon, started in all but one game.
Sophomores Krystyna Rytel and Anna Bout combined for 26 starts in the midfield and will look to fill the void of last year's team captain Juliana Vazquez, who graduated.
This year's team still ranks as one of the youngest in the ACC with only six upperclassmen. Dixon Veltri is the team's lone senior.

THIS YEAR'S NEWCOMERS

Pitt welcomes 10 new players to this year's rosters with two transfers and eight freshmen.
The Panthers are already counting on their newcomers to make instant impacts, as four have started in all three games: Chloe Minas, Hailey Davidson, Leah Pais and Emily Yaple.
Davidson came from Oklahoma, where she started two years as a defender and had four goals and an assist as a freshman in 2018.
Pais won the 2019 America East Rookie of the Year while at Albany, where she tied for the team-lead in goals (five) and tallied 12 points.
Coach Waldrum brought in one of the most talented recruiting classes in program history, an eight-member class: Nyla Allen, Ione Fetsko, Eva Frankovic, Hannah Knych, Minas, Chantelle Parker, Yaple and Zaria Stevenson.
Davidson, Frankovic, Minas and Yaple all joined the team for last year's spring semester.

SCOUTING NAVY

Navy is the reigning Patriot League Regular Season and Conference Tournament Champions, posting a 16-3-3, 6-1-2 record in 2019.
The Mids had seven seniors graduate, including four starters that earned all-season accolades, but still return six players who garnered league accolades last year.
Navy is playing just three official games this season, facing Virginia Tech (Oct. 24) on the road and also a friendly against Army.

THE SERIES

The two programs have not faced each other in over two decades, as Navy won two matchups in 1996 (9-1) at home and 1999 (2-1) in Pittsburgh.

WHAT DOES WEST HAVE IN STORE FOR YEAR TWO

Amanda West has hit the ground running this season, just like she did last year, with a goal and assist in each of the three wins.
With only 20 career games played, West already ranks among the top all-time scorers in program history.
- Seventh in points (38).
- Tied for sixth in goals (13) with Jennifer Kritch (2005-08).
- Tied for fourth in assists (12) with Kristina Francois (2003-06) and Cande Ruiz (1998-01)
She has recorded seven 3+ point games, tied with Ruiz) the most in program history.
She accomplished things in 2019 that no other Panther has done in program history.
She was named to the United Soccer Coaches' All-Atlantic Region Third-Team, becoming the second-ever Panther to receive all-region honors.
She became the first Pitt women's soccer player to receive All-ACC honors when she was named to the third and all-freshmen teams.
She broke the school's all-time single-season points record last year with 29.
Also, she passed Ruiz (1998) at 26 for the most and also tied Ruiz for the most goals in one year with 10.
In assists, she tied with Charity McClure (1998) and Katelyn Ruhe (2010) for the single-season record and already ranks tied for eighth in career assists.

NEW STARTING GOALKEEPER

The Panthers must replace two-year starting goalkeeper Amaia Pena, who signed a professional contract with Athletic Club Femenino (Spain).
Pitt has three goalkeepers on the roster: Katherine Robinson, Caitlynn Lazzarini and Gabriella Neibart.
Robinson, the most experienced of the trio, has started all three games and allowed no goals with four saves in 212 minutes played. She recorded the shutout against Syracuse with one save.
Lazzarini relieved Robinson in both App State games in the second half and made two saves in 58 minutes.
Prior to this season, Robinson made eight starts in 12 games played over two seasons. Last year she registered a 0-1-1 record with a 2.20 goals against average and eight saves.
Lazzarini played in three games last year as a freshman and recorded a 1-2-0 record, 0.95 goals against average and eight saves.

O CANADA

Waldrum and his staff have gone north of the border the last two years to find top talent to fill out the roster.
Six players grew up playing in the Canadian youth soccer system: Parker (Milton, Ontario), Pais (Mississagua, Ontario), West (Burlington, Ontario), Anna Bout (Cambridge, Ontario), Minas (Montreal, Quebec) and Bex Bartosh (Hiawatha First Nation, Ontario).
Pais leads the team in scoring with three goals and seven points with West right behind her with two goals and six points.
Bout and Minas have started in the midfield in both games, and Bout scored her first collegiate goal on Sunday.
Parker made her collegiate debut on Sunday, and Bartosh came off the bench in both games.