Pitt Battles #2 Duke To Scoreless Road Draw Friday Night

Friday, October 21

Durham, NC

8 PM

Pitt

7-3-4, 3-2-2

#2 Duke

10-0-4, 4-0-3

Pittsburgh

Duke

Photo by: Matt Hawley/Pitt Athletics

Pitt Battles #2 Duke To Scoreless Road Draw Friday Night

10/21/2022 10:37:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score Season Stats

DURHAM, NC – The Pitt men's soccer team (7-3-4, 3-2-2 ACC) moved their unbeaten streak to five straight Friday night as they earned a hard fought 0-0 road draw at No. 2 Duke (10-0-4, 4-0-3 ACC).

The Blue Devils had the first scoring chance of the match in the 10^th minute as Shakur Mohammed blasted a free ball at the top of the box over the Pitt goal. In the 23^rd minute, the Panthers had their first shot as Mateo Maillefaud sent a cross into the box and Michael Sullivan headed it towards the right corner but Eliot Hamill made a diving stop to keep the match scoreless.

Pitt had the best chance of the opening half in the 30^th minute as he broke free down the left flank and ripped a low shot on goal that was kicked away by the Duke keeper. The rebound was controlled by Josh Luchini and his rebound effort was blocked by the defender and covered by the keeper.

The Blue Devils had the first chance of the second half in the 54^th minute as Mohammed found some space and ripped a shot that went just wide right of the Pitt goal.

After some back-and-forth play, the Panthers controlled the final eight minutes of action as they pressed for the game-winning marker. In the 82^nd minute, Lucas Rosa was dragged down at the top of the box but his ensuing free kick from 20 yards out went just over the cross bar.

Pitt had a golden opportunity for the winner in the 87^th minute as Rosa crossed a great ball to the left of the Duke net where Valentin Noel's diving header attempt flew just over the Blue Devils goal and out of play. Pitt tried to press over the final two minutes but weren't able to find the back of the net as they earned the road draw.

The Pitt backline had a great showing Friday night as they limited the Duke attack to seven shots (two on goal) in the draw. Pitt held the 10-7 edge in shots while the Blue Devils held the 6-1 lead in corner kicks in the scoreless tie.

Joe van der Sar made two stops in his sixth shutout of the season while Hamill finished with three stops in his NCAA leading 10^th clean sheet.

Pitt returns home for their regular season finale next Friday, Oct. 28 as they play host to Notre Dame at Ambrose Urbanic Field. Friday's match will kick at 7:00 pm on ACC Network Extra. The Panthers will honor eight seniors prior to the match as part of Senior Day festivities for Pitt.

NOTES
*** With the tie, Pitt is now 4-6-3 all-time against Duke while being unbeaten in five straight against the Blue Devils
*** With the tie, Pitt now has four on the season which ties a program record for most ties in a season. Pitt also earned four draws in 1991, 1997 and 2013
*** The Panthers are 2-2-1 on the road this season
*** Pitt is now 3-2-4 against ranked teams on the year
*** van der Sar made two saves in his sixth shutout of the season. The six clean sheets are a career-high for the senior