No. 2 Pitt Advances to Elite Eight with 4-0 Win Over UCF

Thursday, May 6

Cary, N.C.

3 PM

Pitt

15-3-0, 9-1-0

UCF

9-4-1, 7-3-0

UCF

Pittsburgh

No. 2 Pitt Advances to Elite Eight with 4-0 Win Over UCF

5/6/2021 8:39:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score

CARY, N.C. – The number two seed Pitt men's soccer team continued its historic run with a 4-0 defeat of No. 18 UCF Thursday afternoon in the NCAA Tournament Third Round at WakeMed Soccer Park.

NEWS & NOTES

The Panthers improved their overall record to 15-3. The 15 wins is a program record for victories in a single season, surpassing the previous mark of 14 set in 1995.
Pitt has outscored its opponents 10-1 in the past two NCAA Tournament matches. The victory is the third NCAA Tournament victory in school history.
Sophomore Veljko Petkovic scored the first goal of the game 23 seconds in, the fastest goal in Pitt men's soccer history. Petkovic finished the day with two goals and now has two goals and two assists in his last two games.
Sophomore Valentin Noel, who was named a MAC Hermann Semifinalist earlier this week, scored his 13^th goal of the season. The midfielder entered the match third in the country in total goals scored.
Graduate student Nico Campuzano earned his fifth shutout in goal with a career-high 10 saves. His 10 saves tied for ninth for a single game in program history.
Pitt's 134 points as a team is a school record for a single season. Pitt's single season record for goals scored is 55. The Panthers currently have 48 for the year.

Pitt will next face No. 7 seed Washington Monday at 1 p.m. at WakeMed Soccer Park in the NCAA Quarterfinals.

"It was a good win tonight," said head coach Jay Vidovich. "The way we are combining, we're willing to defend and grind out wins to find beautiful goals and enduring goals. I think we are starting to not only be healthy, but we have guys who know how to do their job and come off the bench and really help us out. I am proud of our guys today."

Pitt opened up the scoring seconds after kick-off, as Petkovic secured a loose ball inside the UCF (9-4-1) box, dribbled to his left twice and found the back right corner of the net. The Panthers answered with their second goal in the 12^th minute, as senior Alexander Dexter scored seventh of the season to put Pitt up 2-0. Freshman Bertin Jacquesson earned the assist on the goal, his seventh of the year.

Approximately 11 minutes later, the Panthers scored its third goal of the first half again off the foot of Petkovic, who found his way inside the 18-yard box and dribbled past the goalkeeper for an open net goal.

Despite having a 3-0 advantage, UCF led 9-3 in shots and 2-0 in corner kicks after 45 minutes.

Pitt scored its fourth goal in the 65^th minute, as Noel capitalized off an errant pass from the Knight's goalkeeper and scored from inside three yards. The Panthers held UCF to zero goals for the day, the fifth shutout of the season.

The Knights ended the contest with a 17-11 advantage in shots and 3-2 edge in corner kicks. Campuzano earned his school record 15^th win in goal, surpassing Adam Spitzer's mark set in 1995. He tallied six saves in the first half and four in the second.

Pitt is back in action Monday, May 10 at 1 p.m. against Washington. The game will be free to watch via NCAA.com.