No. 3 Pitt Faces No. 19 Akron Monday Evening

PITTSBURGH – The No. 3 Pitt men's soccer team returns to the road to face nationally-ranked No. 19 Akron Monday evening at 7 p.m. at FirstEnergy Stadium.

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PITT BOUNCES BACK AT HOME

The Panthers returned home after a 2-1 road loss at West Virginia and defended Ambrose Urbanic Field, defeating Lehigh 2-1 Sept. 3.
Junior Veljko Petkovic scored his third goal of the season in the 45th minute, giving Pitt a 1-0 halftime lead.
Senior Rodrigo Almeida earned his second goal in as many games played, putting Pitt up 2-0 in the 76th minute.
Graduate Student Jasper Löeffelsend tallied two assists, his second multi-assist game of his career. Sophomore Filip Mirkovic also added an assist of his own.

THE SERIES – AKRON

Akron leads the all-time series 18-8-2.
Pitt won the last meeting, a 1-0 victory at Ambrose Urbanic Field Sept. 16, 2019.
The Zips last defeated the Panthers Sept. 1, 2018 at FirstEnergy Stadium by score of 1-0.
Head Coach Jay Vidovich is 4-4-1 all-time against Akron, holding a 1-2 record while at Pitt.

SCOUTING THE ZIPS

No. 19 Akron enters the contest with a 3-0 record, including a 2-0 mark at home. The Zips have defeated Wright State (7-1), Michigan State (2-1) and Robert Morris (3-0).
The Panthers face their first ranked opponent of the season in Akron and first since No. 3 Indiana in the NCAA College Cup.
The Zips own one of the top offenses in the country, as they have scored 12 goals and tallied 13 assists so far this season.
Wan Kuzri Wan Kamal leads the team with six points (2 goals, 2 assists), while Ryan Kingsford has two goals and an assist on the year.
Akron has held its opponents to two goals in three games, with goalkeeper Will Meyer registering two saves.

TOP PERFORMANCES SO FAR

The Panthers enter Monday as one of the best passing teams in the country totaling 10 assists.
Graduate student Jasper Löeffelsend, the reigning ACC Defensive Player of the Year who tallied nine assists last season, totaled two against Lehigh and leads the team with three on the year.
Ten different Panthers have totaled a point this season, with junior Veljko Petkovic (3 goals, 2 assists) leading the way with eight. Senior Rodrigo Almeida is second with four points (2 goals), while Löeffelsend (3 assists) and junior Valentin Noel (1 goal, 1 assist) each have three.

PETKOVIC NAMED ACC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Junior midfielder Veljko Petkovic was named ACC Offensive Player of the Week for the second time in his career Tuesday, Aug. 31 for his performance in Pitt's 7-0 shutout of Duquesne.
Petkovic began the 2021 season with a career night against the Dukes at home, scoring two goals and tallying two assists for a career-high six points.
Petkovic scored two goals midway through the first half one minute and eight seconds apart, setting a school record for fastest consecutive goals scored by one player.
The Queens, N.Y., native was also named to TopDrawerSoccer and College Soccer News' Team of the Week.

UP NEXT

The Panthers return home for their first ACC contest of the season against nationally ranked North Carolina.
Both Pitt and North Carolina made it to the NCAA College Cup last season.
Game-time is Friday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. with coverage on the ACCNX.