Thursday, October 27
Pittsburgh, PA
7:00 PM
Pitt
12-4-2, 5-3-2
0
vs
0
Clemson
8-4-5, 4-3-3
1
2
F
Clemson
0
0
0
Pittsburgh
0
0
0
No. 19 Women's Soccer Clinches ACC Tournament Berth Courtesy of Draw with Clemson
10/27/2022 10:18:00 PM | Women's Soccer
PITTSBURGH - The No. 19-ranked Pitt women's soccer team (12-4-2, 5-3-2 ACC) made program history Thursday at Ambrose Urbanic Field, clinching its first-ever berth in the ACC Championship field courtesy of a 0-0 draw with Clemson (8-4-5, 4-3-3 ACC).
The Panthers last appeared in postseason play in 2010 - a 1-0 loss at DePaul in the Big East Tournament First Round.
"To think about five years ago when we got here and you saw maybe 10, 15 people in the stands and nobody came out and the quality of soccer was poor, and to see us tonight and see this kind of support and crowd and to see how far the players have come on the field, it's really hard to describe it," head coach Randy Waldrum said. "Every player, whether they played tonight or not, contributed to this success so far. There's more to come. We're not finished yet. I'm extremely proud of them. It's player driven, so we really appreciate them."
Pitt is now set to square off against No. 4-ranked Notre Dame (14-2-1, 7-2-1 ACC) in a 2022 ACC Championship First Round matchup on Sunday at 6 p.m. at Alumni Stadium in South Bend, Ind. The contest will be televised live on ACC Network. The winner of the matchup between the No. 6-seeded Panthers and the No. 3-seeded Fighting Irish will face No. 2-seeded Florida State in the tournament semifinals on November 3 at WakeMed Park in Cary, N.C. Pitt earned a 3-1 win at then-No. T-17-ranked Notre Dame on September 25 in South Bend in the last meeting between the two teams, which marked the Panthers' first-ever win over the Fighting Irish.
Thursday's showdown with the Tigers was tightly contested, with the teams finishing even in shots with 12 apiece. Pitt possessed the ball 54 percent of the time against a 46 percent rate for Clemson. The Tigers led in shots on goal (6-2) and corners (7-6).
"Defensively, I thought the overall team played well and put a lot of work in. But, we created a lot of good chances ourselves," Waldrum said. "It felt like we created a lot of good attacking opportunities as well."
Both teams had several great chances to score throughout the contest but neither could break through for a goal. The Panthers came up with a massive stop on a scramble in front of the net in the 88th minute as Caitlyn Lazzarini came up with a huge save that ultimately helped send the Panthers to the ACC tournament for the first time.
"I can't really take credit for much besides just doing my job," Lazzarini said. "My team was on every ball. They were sprinting their hearts out, and they just did a great job. All credit to them."
Lazzarini finished the contest with five saves. Leah Pais led Pitt with four shots off the bench while Sarah Schupansky and Landy Mertz each tallied two shots.
Maliah Morris registered a game-high five shots and three shots on goal for Clemson. Halle Mackiewicz totaled two saves for the Tigers.
#H2P | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
The Panthers last appeared in postseason play in 2010 - a 1-0 loss at DePaul in the Big East Tournament First Round.
"To think about five years ago when we got here and you saw maybe 10, 15 people in the stands and nobody came out and the quality of soccer was poor, and to see us tonight and see this kind of support and crowd and to see how far the players have come on the field, it's really hard to describe it," head coach Randy Waldrum said. "Every player, whether they played tonight or not, contributed to this success so far. There's more to come. We're not finished yet. I'm extremely proud of them. It's player driven, so we really appreciate them."
Pitt is now set to square off against No. 4-ranked Notre Dame (14-2-1, 7-2-1 ACC) in a 2022 ACC Championship First Round matchup on Sunday at 6 p.m. at Alumni Stadium in South Bend, Ind. The contest will be televised live on ACC Network. The winner of the matchup between the No. 6-seeded Panthers and the No. 3-seeded Fighting Irish will face No. 2-seeded Florida State in the tournament semifinals on November 3 at WakeMed Park in Cary, N.C. Pitt earned a 3-1 win at then-No. T-17-ranked Notre Dame on September 25 in South Bend in the last meeting between the two teams, which marked the Panthers' first-ever win over the Fighting Irish.
Thursday's showdown with the Tigers was tightly contested, with the teams finishing even in shots with 12 apiece. Pitt possessed the ball 54 percent of the time against a 46 percent rate for Clemson. The Tigers led in shots on goal (6-2) and corners (7-6).
"Defensively, I thought the overall team played well and put a lot of work in. But, we created a lot of good chances ourselves," Waldrum said. "It felt like we created a lot of good attacking opportunities as well."
Both teams had several great chances to score throughout the contest but neither could break through for a goal. The Panthers came up with a massive stop on a scramble in front of the net in the 88th minute as Caitlyn Lazzarini came up with a huge save that ultimately helped send the Panthers to the ACC tournament for the first time.
"I can't really take credit for much besides just doing my job," Lazzarini said. "My team was on every ball. They were sprinting their hearts out, and they just did a great job. All credit to them."
Lazzarini finished the contest with five saves. Leah Pais led Pitt with four shots off the bench while Sarah Schupansky and Landy Mertz each tallied two shots.
Maliah Morris registered a game-high five shots and three shots on goal for Clemson. Halle Mackiewicz totaled two saves for the Tigers.
#H2P | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Team Stats
CLE
PIT
Goals
0
0
Shots
12
12
Shots on Goal
6
2
Saves
2
5
Corners
7
6
Fouls
11
7
Game Leaders
Players
Shots
2
SOG
1
Goals
0
Assists
0
mid
Shots
2
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots
1
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
GK
/ Women's SoccerM
/ Women's SoccerF
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