Pitt
Boston College
No. 21 Women's Soccer Meets Boston College
10/14/2022 8:35:00 AM | Women's Soccer
THE MATCHUP
PITTSBURGH - The No. 21-ranked Pitt women's soccer team (11-3-0, 4-2-0 ACC) is set to play its final road game of the 2022 season and wrap up a season-long three-game road trip when it visits Boston College (5-6-3, 1-5-0 ACC) Saturday at Newton Campus Complex in Newton, Mass. First touch is scheduled for 7 p.m. The matchup will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.
LOOKING TO BOUNCE BACK
Pitt is looking to put a halt to a season-long two-game losing streak when it takes on the Eagles on Saturday. The Panthers saw their five-game winning streak snapped with a 4-0 loss on the road to then-No. 5-ranked North Carolina last Thursday. The setback marked the first for the Panthers in ACC play in 2022. Pitt then fell to No. 7-ranked Duke, 1-0, on Sunday.
IN THE RANKINGS FOR A THIRD-STRAIGHT WEEK
Pitt appeared in the United Soccer Coaches Rankings for the third week in a row, with the Panthers tabbed No. 21 in the country in the latest poll.
The Panthers entered the rankings at No. 14 two weeks ago, marking the third-straight year Pitt has appeared in the weekly poll. Pitt moved up one spot to No. 13 last week. The Panthers reached as high as No. 19 in the poll last season and No. 12 in 2020.
TOP-TEN RPI RATING
The Panthers currently occupy the No. 8 spot in the NCAA's fourth Rating Percentage Index (RPI) report of the 2022 season after opening at No. 18 in the initial report, moving up to seventh two weeks ago and then all the way up to No. 2 last week.
CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT RACE COMING DOWN TO THE WIRE
Pitt is currently tied for fourth in the ACC standings with North Carolina with 12 points, with the Tar Heels holding the tiebreaker courtesy of last week's win over the Panthers. Florida State and Duke are tied for the top spot in the league with 15 points while Notre Dame is third.
The top six teams in the league will qualify for the 2022 ACC Women's Soccer Championship. The top two seeds will receive a bye to the semifinals while the third and sixth seeds and fourth and fifth seeds will square off at the campus site of the higher seed on October 30. Both the semifinals (November 3) and championship game (November 6) are slated to be contested at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.
HOT START
With 11 wins in 14 attempts, Pitt is off to its best start in program history. With their next victory, the Panthers will set the program standard for the most victories in a single season.
A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
ACC play has seen Pitt record its first-ever wins over Virginia Tech (4-1) and Notre Dame (3-1). The Panthers were previously 0-7-1 against the Hokies and 0-15-1 against the Fighting Irish.
BUILDING THE PROGRAM
The Panthers are now 42-37-4 under the leadership of fifth-year head coach Randy Waldrum. After going 9-22-4 in the first two years of a massive rebuild, Pitt has gone 33-17 over the last two-plus seasons.
PILING UP POINTS
With four games still to play in the 2022 regular season, Pitt has already set a program record for points in a single season with 117 (40 goals, 37 assists). The previous high-water mark was shared by the 2020-21 and 1998 teams with 104. The Panthers' 117 points are good for fifth in NCAA Division I while their 8.36 points per game rank 10th.
OFFENSIVE ONSLAUGHT
Pitt has outscored the opposition 40-14 so far in 2022. The Panthers' 40 goals rank as the second most in a single season in program history behind the 2021 team's 41 and are tied for the fourth-most in NCAA Division I this season with UCLA. Pitt is ninth in the country in scoring offense with 2.86 goals per game.
FINDING BALANCE
The Panthers have seen 13 different players find the back of the net so far this season. Leah Pais is pacing Pitt, scoring all seven of her team-leading goals in the last eight games. She is tied for sixth among ACC players in goals. Amanda West, who is out for the rest of the season following an injury in the win over Cincinnati, is tied for second on the team with Landy Mertz with six goals. Mertz has compiled a team-high four game winners, which is tied for most among ACC players. Sarah Schupansky (5) and Ellie Coffield (3) round out Pitt's top five goal scorers. Fleming Dean, Samiah Phiri, Emily Yaple and Katie Zailski have each cashed in twice. Anna Bout, Mackenzie Evers, Ashton Gordon and Bri Hilsenteger have each found the back of the net once.
HOW MAY WE ASSIST?
Eleven different Panthers have distributed assists this season, with Anna Bout and Sarah Schupansky leading the way with six apiece, which is tied for 29th in the country and fifth among ACC players. Bout's 15 career assists are good for the fifth-most in program history. Landy Mertz and Leah Pais are tied with four apiece. Ellie Coffield, Ashton Gordon, Samiah Phiri, Amanda West and Emily Yaple have each dished out three assists while Keera Melenhorst and Ashley Moon have all logged one helper. Pitt's 37 assists rank as the second-most in program history behind the 2021 squad's 47. The Panthers are currently seventh in the country in total assists. Pitt ranks third in the nation and second in the ACC in assists per game with 2.64.
PANTHERS FINISH NON-CONFERENCE PLAY STRONG
Pitt prevailed in seven of its first eight games for the second year in a row to finish non-conference play strong. The Panthers went a perfect 4-0 at home in non-conference action.
SHUT IT DOWN
The Panthers opened the 2022 season by earning a pair of shutout victories at the Rumble in the Rockies in Missoula, Mont. Pitt blanked Gonzaga, 1-0, in the season opener, then stifled host Montana, 2-0, three days later. The Panthers started a new season with back-to-back shutout victories for the first time since 2017. Pitt has added four more shutouts to its total courtesy of a 6-0 rout of Cleveland State, a 7-0 romp over Kent State, a 2-0 blanking of Cincinnati and a 1-0 win over Louisville. Pitt's six shutouts are already tied for the third-most in a single season in program history. The Panthers had not allowed a goal over 315 minutes of play until VCU broke through for the first goal of the match in the sixth minute.
LAZZ LOCKS IT DOWN
Caitlyn Lazzarini put together a career effort in the season-opening shutout of Gonzaga with 10 saves. With an 19-7-0 career record, she is one victory away from becoming the program's all-time leader in goalkeeper wins.
SCOUTING BOSTON COLLEGE
Pitt and Boston College meet for the 15th time on Saturday, with the Eagles holding an 11-3-0 lead over the Panthers. After dropping its first 11 contests to Boston College, Pitt rides a three-game winning streak in the series into Saturday's matchup. The Panthers took the last three meetings from the Eagles, with all three contests being played at Ambrose Urbanic Field. The most recent meeting saw Pitt prevail, 3-0, on Oct. 21, 2021. In its last trip to Massachusetts to take on Boston College, the Panthers fell by a score of 7-0 on Oct. 25, 2018.
Boston College is led by fourth-year head coach Jason Lowe and has gone 23-34-7 during his tenure.
The Eagles were picked to finish 12th in the ACC Preseason Coaches Poll.
Sam Smith is Boston College's leading points scorer with 10 points and five goals. Laura Gouvin leads the Eagles with three assists. Wiebke Willebrandt has played and started in a team-high 13 games in goal, registering 54 saves while giving up 20 goals.
UP NEXT
Pitt begins its final stretch of the 2022 regular season by beginning a three-game homestand with a matchup against Syracuse on Thursday, Oct. 20. The game will be televised on ACC Network and is set for a 6 p.m. start.
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