Pitt Hosts No. 5 North Carolina Thursday Night

PITTSBURGH — Pitt women's soccer (8-4-0, 1-3-0) hosts No. 5 North Carolina (8-1-2, 1-1-2) Thursday at 7 p.m.

GAMEDAY PROMOTIONS

Kids 12-and-under wearing a soccer jersey get in for free at each home game of the 2021 season for both men's and women's soccer.

HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG

The game can be streamed through WatchESPN.
Updates from the contest are provided on Twitter. Follow @Pitt_WSOC for the latest news and updates about the team.

THE SERIES

North Carolina has won all five games in the all-time series.
Two games have been decided by one goal: 2-1 on Oct. 12, 2014 in Chapel Hill, N.C. and 1-0 on Sept. 26, 2013 in Pittsburgh.

RPI RANKINGS

Pitt is currently slotted at No. 66 in the RPI rankings (.579 value).
Down four spots from last week, the Panthers debuted at 71 in the first release of the rankings last Monday.
All of the Panthers four losses have come to top-50 opponents: at No. 1 Florida State and No. 50 Clemson and home to No. 11 TCU and No. 18 Virginia Tech.
Pitt owns a top-75 win at No. 70 Oklahoma State.
With six ACC contests left, the Panthers have plenty of top-ranked opponents to bump up its RPI ranking with top-25 matchups against No. 2 Duke and No. 3 North Carolina, a top-50 games against No. 44 Wake Forest and top-75 contests versus No. 56 Boston College and No. 62 NC State.

HISTORIC OFFENSE

The Panthers have displayed a high-powered offense to start the season with 3+ goals scored in six wins.
Entering the week, Pitt ranked in the nation eighth in assists per game (3.08), 16th in points per game (8.25), 25th in scoring offense (2.58 goals per game), 27th in shots per game (18.42) and 36th in shots on goal per game (8.25).
Almost halfway through the regular season, the team already ranks among the best ever in program history for single-season stats:
- First in total assists (37).
- Third in points (99).
- Third in goals (31).

STOUT DEFENSE

While getting attention for its offense, Pitt has featured an impressive defense.
The Panthers have allowed 12 goals in 12 games this season with an average of 11.3 shots and 4.6 shots on goal allowed per game.
Entering the week, Pitt ranked in the nation 21st in shutout percentage (.583).
The squad is tied for the second-most shutouts (seven) in a single-season.

THE PROGRAM'S GOAT, AMANDA WEST

In just a little over two years, Amanda West has proven to be the best player in the program's history.
This preseason West became the first Panther to be selected the All-ACC Preseason Team.
To start the season, she earned the first ACC Offensive Player of the Week award.
She scored a goal to break the school record in goals along with an assist in the win over Tulsa and then notched the tying goal in the 3-2 overtime win of then-No. 16 Oklahoma State.
She has been selected for the weekly award in each of three seasons.
She has scored in each of the first four games in all three years and in the first five games the last two seasons.
In season-openers, she has averaged four points per game (seven against Loyola Marymount in 2019, two at App State and three against Tulsa).
She scored the game-winning goal and added an assist in the 2-0 win at Miami.
With only 42 career games played, she already ranks among the top all-time scorers in program history.
- First in points (77), 21 ahead of Roosa Arvas (2012-14).
- First in career goals (29), six ahead of Ashley Cuba (2009-12).
- Second in assists (19), one behind Arvas.
- First in career game-winning goals (11), two ahead of Ashley Habbel (2006-09).
- First in career three-points plus games (12), five ahead of Cande Ruiz (1998-01).
- First in points per game (1.83) and goals per game (.69).

HOMETOWN HEROES DEBUT

Freshmen and Pittsburgh locals Ellie Coffield and Sarah Schupansky have made instant impacts to start their careers.
Schupansky became the second Panther to reach double-digit points and now leads the team in points (16) while being tied for goals (six) with West.
She is also third in assists (four).
Coffield is tied for the team lead in assists (five) with Anna Bout and is also third in points (nine) with two goals.
In the first game of the season, Coffield scored the game-winning goal over Tulsa on her first career shot in the 17th minute with Schupansky getting her first point with the primary assist.
Coffield finished with another assist on the final goal against the Golden Hurricane.
Schupansky has two braces already (Cleveland State and Towson).
Coffield scored her first goal at Ambrose Urbanic Field against NJIT.
Coffield assisted on the game-winning goal at Miami.
Schupansky scored the golden goal at Oklahoma State for her first collegiate goal, notching the game-winner 30 seconds into overtime, and also assisted on the tying goal in the second half to send the game into overtime.
She was named to the TopDrawerSoccer Team of the Week, and is just the third Panther to earn the award (Amanda West and Leah Pais).
Schupansky recorded her first brace against Cleveland State in just 31 minutes played.

FIRST ACC WIN

Pitt picked its first ACC victory of the season Sept. 26 with a 2-0 win at Miami.
After a scoreless first half, Amanda West punched in the game-winning goal off a feed into the box from Ellie Coffield in the 51st minute.
Leah Pais provided the insurance goal in the 74th minute, pouncing on a rebound from a shot by West & scoring deep in the left side of the box.
Katherine Robinson posted her third shutout of the season with six saves.
Pitt has won the last two games against Miami by 2-0 scores (last year in Pittsburgh, Oct. 18) and secured its first win in Coral Gables since Oct. 12, 2001 (2-1 with Miami ranked No. 24).
The Panthers have scored seven of the last eight goals against the Hurricanes game dating back to the Sept. 29, 2019 game at Miami.
Pitt had the advantage in shots (22-11) and shots on goal (7-6) while Miami had all eight corner kicks of the game.

SCOUTING NO. 5 NORTH CAROLINA

The Tar Heels suffered their only loss at home to then-No. 4 Duke (1-0) to begin ACC play and have tied now-No. 19 Virginia Tech (2-2) and No. 2 Virginia (0-0) and beaten (RV) Clemson (3-0).
North Carolina won all seven nonconference games with a goals aggregate of 23-4, including wins over now-No. 7 Stanford (2-1, OT) No. 8 Arkansas (1-0), (RV) Ohio State (2-0), (RV) Northwestern (2-0).
Freshman midfielder Emily Colton leads the team in goals (five), and freshman forward Emily Murphy leads the team in points (12).
2020-21 All-ACC First-Team selection and senior Claudia Dickey has played every second in goal and has a 0.60 goals against average, 26 saves and five shutouts.