No. 24 Pitt Welcomes NC State Wednesday For ACC Championship First Round

PITTSBURGH – The Pitt men's soccer team (7-3-5, 3-2-3 ACC) earned the No. 6 seed for the ACC Championship and they will play host to No. 11 seed NC State Wednesday night at Ambrose Urbanic Field in the first round game.

The winner of Wednesday's game will head to Charlottesville, VA on Sunday to take on the No. 3 seed Virginia Cavaliers at 4:00 pm.

FOLLOW ALONG

Wednesday night's contest will air live on ACC Network Extra and can be found online HERE.
Live stats for Wednesday's game can be found HERE.
Live updates throughout the game will also be posted on Twitter by following the Pitt men's soccer account @Pitt_MSOC.

THE SERIES – NC STATE

This meeting marks the ninth all-time between the two programs with Pitt holding the 4-3-1 edge in the series.
The Panthers have won three straight in the series including a 3-0 home victory over NC State earlier this year. Josh Luchini netted a brace while Lucas Rosa netted a free kick goal in the win on Sept. 16.
Pitt is 4-1-1 all-time against the Wolfpack in games played in Pittsburgh. The Panthers have won three straight at home against NC State.

SCOUTING THE WOLFPACK

NC State enters Wednesday's ACC Championship First Round matchup with a 6-6-4 overall record and a 1-5-2 ACC mark. They earned the No. 11 seed in the tournament with five points.
The Wolfpack are being led offensively by Conor Kelly who has netted seven goals, two assists and 16 points on 28 shots. Calem Tommy has chipped in with two goals, a team-high three assists and seven points in 16 matches.
In goal, Lucas Hatsios has been solid as he owns a 5-5-4 record to go along with a 1.14 goals against average, .746 save percentage and five shutouts.

PANTHERS IN THE ACC CHAMPIONSHIP

This marks the seventh straight season the Panthers have qualified for the ACC Men's Soccer Championship. They earned the No. 6 seed and a home first round match after posting 12 points during the regular season.
The Panthers own a 5-7-0 overall record in ACC Championship matches while also owning a 2-1-0 record at home in the tournament.
Pitt and NC State have met in the ACC Championship one time as the Panthers earned a 2-1 overtime win against the Wolfpack on Nov. 10, 2019 at Ambrose Urbanic Field.
The Panthers have advanced to at least the ACC semifinals in each of the last three seasons.

SCORING FIRST A MUST FOR PITT

One of the keys to victory for the Panthers over the last four seasons has been scoring the first goal of the match.
Since 2019, Pitt owns a 39-1-3 overall record when they record the first goal of the match.
The Panthers are 6-0-1 this year when scoring the first goal while being just 1-3-3 when allowing the first goal of the match.
Pitt hasn't lost a game when scoring the first goal since falling to #2 Indiana 3-2 in double overtime on August 30, 2019.

Season             Record             Win %
2022                 6-0-1                .929
2021                 11-0-2              .923
2020-21            14-0-0              1.000
2019                 8-1-0                .889

HOME TURF ADVANTAGE

The Panthers have been one of the best teams in the country on their home turf over the last four seasons as they own a 28-4-5 record at Ambrose Urbanic Field.
Pitt held a 19-match home winning streak from Oct. 7, 2019 to Nov. 10, 2021, which at the time was the longest streak in the ACC and second longest unbeaten streak in the nation.
Head coach Jay Vidovich is 34-17-7 at home in his seven seasons at Pitt.
Since the start of the 2019 season, Pitt has outscored its opponents 105-39 at home including a 21-11 advantage this season.
The Panthers win percentage (.829) at home over the past four seasons is the best in the ACC and 8th best overall in the NCAA.

Home Win % Since 2019
# TEAM                  RECORD             %
1. Georgetown        37-2-5           .898
2. New Hampshire   29-2-4           .886
3. Missouri State     32-3-3           .882
4. Washington         32-4-2           .868
5. Kentucky             34-3-5           .869
6. Campbell             29-2-6           .865
7. Cornell                16-2-3           .833
8. Pitt                     29-4-5           .829
9. Clemson              36-7-4           .809
10. Yale                    13-3-2            .778

PANTHERS PLACE FIVE PLAYERS IN TOP DRAWER SOCCER MIDSEASON TOP-100 LIST

Top Drawer Soccer released their midseason Top-100 player rankings last week and the Panthers were well represented on the list.
In all, Pitt had five representatives on the list led by junior midfielder Filip Mirkovic who ranked #4. Valentin Noel was #8, Bertin Jacquesson was #14, Rodrigo Almeida was #46 and Jackson Walti was #53.
Pitt was the only team in the nation to have five players ranked inside the top-53 in the country.

UP NEXT

With a win, Pitt would travel to No. 3 seed Virginia on Sunday for a 4:00 pm first kick. Sunday's match will air live on ACC Network.

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No. 24 Pitt Welcomes NC State Wednesday For ACC Championship First Round

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