No. 23 Pitt Plays To 1-1 Draw Against Notre Dame On Senior Night

Friday, October 28

Pittsburgh, Pa.

7 PM

Pitt

7-3-5, 3-2-3

Notre Dame

8-6-2, 3-4-1

Notre Dame

Pittsburgh

Photo by: Alex Mowrey/Pitt Athletics

No. 23 Pitt Plays To 1-1 Draw Against Notre Dame On Senior Night

10/28/2022 10:24:00 PM | Men's Soccer

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PITTSBURGH – The Pitt Men's Soccer team, ranked 23^rd in the latest United Soccer Coaches Poll, played to a 1-1 draw against visiting Notre Dame Friday evening at Ambrose Urbanic Field. The Panthers dominated play in the opening half before a red card early in the second half put Pitt a man down and tilted play over the final 43 minutes of action.

Pitt finishes the regular season with a 7-3-5 overall record and a 3-2-3 ACC mark while Notre Dame goes to 8-6-2 overall and 3-4-1 in conference games.

The Panthers earned the No. 6 seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament and will play host to No. 11 seed NC State at Ambrose Urbanic Field Wednesday night.

Pitt grabbed control of play early in the first half and had a terrific scoring opportunity in the 12th minute as Josh Luchini followed a crisp 1-2 passing sequence through the top of the box by Filip Mirkovic with a right foot redirect shot from the left wing that beat the Notre Dame keeper before striking the crossbar flush and caroming out of danger.

The Panthers threatened again in the 21^st minute off a corner set piece. The Fighting Irish defense had to clear an initial header attempt off the line and Michael Sullivan headed the clear attempt across the goal and just wide of the side panel. Luchini kept Notre Dame in jeopardy with a sliding attempt off diving cross that went just wide of the post in the 23rd minute.

Bertin Jacquesson gave the Panthers a 1-0 advantage at the 25:23 mark on a left foot strike from the right wing. After being played into space on the wing by Mirkovic, he beat a charging defender with a cut back to his left foot and fired a low driving shot that deflected off a defender's desperate stab into the left side panel of the cage for his fifth goal of the season.

Valentin Noel and Jaquesson added back-to-back blasts from inside the box in the 43^rd minute as Pitt continue to generate threatening scoring opportunities. Notre Dame keeper Bryan Dowd got his hands up to save both attempts and run his first half total to five saves. Pitt closed the opening 45 minutes with 16 shots, including eight shots on goal, while Notre Dame mustered just one attempt.

Yanis Leerman was carded at the half and received a second yellow in the 48^th minute after a sliding tackle in the midfield. Despite going a man-down Pitt continued to control possession, while Joe van der Sar stopped a pair of Notre Dame attempts from outside the box.

Notre Dame got the equalizer in the 58^th minute on the counter as Daniel Russo knocked home a cross from Eno Not from just inside the penalty mark.

van der Sar kept the score even with a trio of big saves on one-on-one opportunities, including a kick save to stop a Notre Dame breakaway in the 80^th minute. The senior keeper finished with a career best nine saves, all in the second half as the Fighting Irish took advantage of the man-up to outshoot the Panthers, 17-5, after intermission.

For the match, Pitt held the 21-18 edge in shots while the corner kicks were knotted at four apiece. Michael Sullivan and Jacquesson led the Panthers with four shots each in the draw.

NOTES
*** With the tie, Pitt is now 7-20-5 all-time against Notre Dame
*** Pitt is now 29-4-5 at home since 2019, the seventh best mark in the NCAA over the stretch
*** The tie gives Pitt five draws on the year, a new program high for a single season
*** Jacquesson netted his fifth goal of the season and 16^th of his Pitt career. He now has 51 career points in 49 career games
*** Mirkovic notched his ACC-leading 10^th assist of the season on Jacquesson's goal
*** Mirkovic is sixth in program history with 17 career assists
*** van der Sar finished off his night with a career-high nine saves