Pitt
Florida State University
No. 19 Women's Soccer Set for NCAA Sweet Sixteen Showdown Against No. 5 Florida State
11/19/2022 11:01:00 AM | Women's Soccer
THE MATCHUP
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The No. 19-ranked Pitt women's soccer team (14-4-3, 5-3-2 ACC) makes its first Sweet Sixteen appearance in its first trip to the NCAA Tournament, taking on No. 5-ranked Florida State (15-2-3, 8-2-0 ACC) Sunday in the 2022 NCAA Championship Third Round. The opening kick is slated for 5 p.m. at Seminole Soccer Complex in Tallahassee, Fla. The contest will be streamed live on ESPN+.
The No. 4 nationally seeded Panthers won their NCAA Second Round matchup with No. 18-ranked Georgetown, 2-1, on Friday in Tallahassee. Pitt opened NCAA Tournament play with a 1-0 triumph over Buffalo on November 12 at Ambrose Urbanic Field in Pittsburgh.
The winner of the matchup between Pitt and No. 1 overall seed Florida State will take on either No. 3 nationally seeded Arkansas or Memphis in the NCAA Championship Quarterfinals next weekend.
RESILIENT PANTHERS TOP HOYAS
Pitt potted a pair of goals in the first half, then held on in the final 45 minutes to shut out the Hoyas in the second half and score the one-goal win.
The Panthers put the first goal of the game on the board in the 19th minute, Pitt broke down the Georgetown defense, starting with Samiah Phiri feeding a through ball to Landy Mertz, who then got it inside to Sarah Schupansky who finished with the one timer. The goal marked Schupansky's seventh of the season.
Georgetown evened the score in the 37th minute, though, as Claire Manning found the back of the net.
Pitt wasted no time responding to the challenge, however, scoring off a corner. Schupansky took the corner and sent the ball toward the net. It deflected off of Katie Zailski and into the goal to give the Panthers a 2-1 advantage.
The second half saw Georgetown outshoot Pitt, 6-1, and control possession for much of the half. Pitt was able to hang on, though, and punch its ticket to the Third Round of the NCAA Championship.
Pitt earned the win despite being outshot by a 12-9 count. Schupansky tallied a game-high four shots, with two coming on goal. She tallied her third game of the season with at least three points and seventh of her career. Zailski finished with two shots.
Caitlyn Lazzarini finished with four saves before exiting the game with an injury late in the second half. Freshman Ellie Breech played the final 6:06 in goal to finish off the win.
HISTORY MADE
Pitt has been growing accustomed to making history.
The Panthers qualified for both the ACC Championship and NCAA Championship fields for the first time in program history in 2022. Pitt joined New Mexico State and Omaha as first-time participants in the NCAA Tournament this season.
Pitt clinched its first-ever berth in the ACC Championship field courtesy of a 0-0 draw with Clemson to close out the 2022 regular season. The Panthers had last appeared in postseason play in 2010 - a 1-0 loss at DePaul in the Big East Tournament First Round.
BUILDING THE PROGRAM
The Panthers are now 45-38-7 under the leadership of fifth-year head coach Randy Waldrum. After going 9-22-4 in the first two years of a massive rebuild, Pitt has gone 36-18-3 over the last three seasons.
PILING UP POINTS
Pitt has set a program record for points in a single season with 138 (47 goals, 44 assists). The previous high-water mark was shared by the 2020-21 and 1998 teams with 104.
OFFENSIVE ONSLAUGHT
Pitt has outscored the opposition 47-18 so far in 2022. The Panthers' 47 goals are a program record.
FINDING BALANCE
The Panthers have seen 13 different players find the back of the net so far this season. Leah Pais is pacing Pitt, scoring a team-high eight goals.
HOW MAY WE ASSIST?
Eleven different Panthers have distributed assists this season, with Sarah Schupansky leading the way with a career-high eight.
SCOUTING FLORIDA STATE
Pitt and Florida State meet for the 11th time on Sunday and second time this season, with the Seminoles leading the all-time series, 10-0-0. In this season's meeting on October 23, Florida State earned a 1-0 win courtesy of a goal by Leilanni Nesbeth in the 67th minute.
The Seminoles are the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament after earning their ninth ACC Tournament Championship and third in a row. Florida State reached this year's Sweet Sixteen courtesy of 3-0 shutout of Florida Gulf Coast in the First Round and a 4-1 win over LSU Friday in the Second Round.
Florida State saw a league-high nine players named to the All-ACC teams, highlighted by Cristina Roque was named the ACC's first Goalkeeper of the Year. Roque has started all 14 games she's played in, making 50 saves while conceding 12.
The Seminoles boast three 20-point scorers, led by Jenna Nighswonger, who leads the squad with 28 points off of six goals and a team-high 16 assists. Onyi Echegini has scored a team-high 10 goals and has added three assists for 23 points. Jody Brown has 22 points off seven goals and eight assists. Nightswonger and Brown both garnered All-ACC First Team selection.
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