COASTAL DIVISION CHAMPIONS! No. 1 Pitt Defeats Virginia, 5-0

Thursday, April 8

Pittsburgh, Pa.

7 PM

Pitt

13-2-0, 9-1-0

Virginia

7-8-1, 4-7-1

Virginia

Pittsburgh

Photo by: Matt Hawley/Pitt Athletics

COASTAL DIVISION CHAMPIONS! No. 1 Pitt Defeats Virginia, 5-0

4/8/2021 10:43:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score Photo Gallery

PITTSBURGH – The No. 1 Pitt men's soccer team shutout Virginia, 5-0, Thursday evening at Ambrose Urbanic Field and claimed its first ever Atlantic Coast Conference Coastal Division championship.

NEWS & NOTES

The ACC Coastal crown is the first in program history for the Panthers. Pitt joined the ACC in 2013.
The victory improved the Panthers' overall record to 13-2 and 9-1 in the ACC. The 13 victories is one shy of the program record, set back in 1995 (14-6-1). The nine conference victories is a program best.
Pitt earned its fourth shutout of the spring season. All four shutouts have come at home and the Panthers outscored its opponents 9-0 in those contests.
Five different Panthers scored and three different players earned assists on the evening.
Senior Alexander Dexter totaled one goal and two assists, while sophomore Veljko Petkovic tallied two assists of his own.

Pitt jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the fourth minute, as Dexter took a pass from sophomore Raphaël Crivello and struck the back of the net for the score. Crivello took a corner kick pass from Petkovic as both earned an assist on the Dexter goal.

Just before half, freshman and Pittsburgh native Luke Peperak and Dexter had a two on one break heading toward goal. Dexter lobbed the ball from left to right to the far post, and Peperak headed it in with 15 seconds to spare for his first career goal.

Pitt outshot the Cavaliers, 9-1, in the first half and led corner kicks 4-1.

The Panthers added to their lead in the 68^th minute, as freshman Bertin Jacquesson scored on a free kick from 23 yards out, his third of the season. Just two minutes later, freshman Filip Mirkovic scored to make it a 4-0 game, as he took a pass from Dexter and connected with the upper left portion of the net for the goal.

With time winding down in the game, senior Bryce Washington scored the fifth and final goal of the match with a header inside the six yard box. Petkovic totaled his second assist of the game on the goal and the Panthers ended the contest with 15 total points.

Pitt ended the match with a 15-7 advantage in shots. The Panthers also finished the game with six corner kicks, compared to Virginia's two.

Graduate student Nico Campuzano earned the win, his 13^th of the year. He is now tied for second in Pitt history for wins in a single season, matching Justin Gaul's record of 13 set in 2000. The goalkeeper finished with two saves for the evening.

"What this team has done to get into this position, with consistency and the resiliency of COVID and all those factors and to stand ground here at Pitt, undefeated at home and road warriors as well to see the team play like this means the team is getting stronger and stronger," said head coach Jay Vidovich.

With the victory, No. 1 Pitt will travel to Clemson and play for the ACC automatic qualifier Saturday, April 17 at 7 p.m. The game will be a rematch of the ACC Championship final and the winner earns the ACC's automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Championship.