No. 25 Pitt Battles No. 23 Clemson To 1-1 Draw Friday Night

Friday, October 7

Pittsburgh, Pa.

8 PM

Pitt

5-3-2, 2-2-1

#23 Clemson

8-2-1, 2-2-1

Clemson

Pitt

Photo by: Matt Hawley/Pitt Athletics

No. 25 Pitt Battles No. 23 Clemson To 1-1 Draw Friday Night

10/7/2022 10:56:00 PM | Men's Soccer

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PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh men's soccer team (5-3-2, 2-2-1 ACC) earned a hard-fought 1-1 draw against No. 23 Clemson Friday night at Ambrose Urbanic Field. Senior Valentin Noel netted the lone goal for the Panthers in the draw, his second straight game with a tally.

Rodrigo Almeida had the first scoring chance of the match in the 11^th minute as his hard left-footed shot nearly missed the left corner of the goal. Five minutes later, Noel had a great chance from the top of the box but his shot sailed over the goal and out of play.

Ideal Shefqeti made a huge stop on the goal line to preserve the tie in the 18^th minute as Adam Lundegard headed a shot towards the open right corner of the net. Bertin Jacquesson responded with a pair of great chances in the 26^th minute but both of his attempts were stopped by the diving Clemson keeper to keep the game 0-0.

The Tigers broke through with the first goal of the match with 18 seconds to play in the first half as Lundegard headed home a perfectly placed corner by Alvaro Gomez.

Trailing 1-0 at halftime, Pitt came out strong in the second half and got on the board in the 50^th minute. Junior Filip Mirkovic controlled a loose ball and sent a great pass into the box where Noel settled the ball and calmly slotted his fifth goal of the season into the lower left corner.

Joe van der Sar came up big in the 57^th minute to preserve the 1-1 tie as Nathan Richmond found some space in tight and fired a shot that was grabbed by the Pitt keeper.

The Panthers had two great chances in the 70^th minute as Jackson Walti dribbled into the box and ripped a shot that was blocked but the rebound bounced to Noel who volleyed a hard shot that just missed the upper corner of the Clemson goal. A minute later, Luis Sahmkow earned a steal and fed Michael Sullivan who just missed the lower right corner of a wide open net after the Clemson keeper was caught out of position.

Pitt had one final chance to break the tie with just under a minute left as Lucas Rosa was fouled just outside the box and was awarded a free kick. Confusion ensued as the Tigers seemed to be wasting time and the referee appeared to signal stoppage of the clock but after some discussion, he ruled he didn't stop the clock and the remaining 11 seconds was run off the clock and the match ended in a tie.

For the match, Pitt held the 13-12 edge in shots while Clemson had the 4-1 advantage in corner kicks. Pitt was called for five offsides on the night while the Tigers were whistled for none.

Pitt returns home Monday, Oct. 10 as they welcome No. 10 Denver for a non-conference match. Monday's match will air live on ACC Network Extra at 7:00 pm.

NOTES
*** With the draw, Clemson now holds the 6-2-1 lead in the all-time series against Pitt.
*** Pitt is now 28-4-3 at home over the past three seasons. The .843 winning percentage is the eighth best in the NCAA over the last three seasons.
*** With his goal, Noel moved into a tie for third place on the all-time scoring charts with 69 career points. He is now tied with former teammate Edward Kizza. Noel also moved into a tie for fourth place in career goals with 29 as a Panther.
*** With his assist on Noel's goal, Filip Mirkovic now has a team-high and career-high six assists on the year. He ranks third on the team in scoring this season with 10 points.
*** Shefqeti made his first career start for the Panthers in the draw.