Pitt Ready For Showdown With #1 Kentucky Sunday Night In Sweet 16 Matchup

PITTSBURGH – The Pitt men's soccer team (10-4-5, 3-2-3 ACC) will be looking to make their third straight trip to the Elite Eight Sunday night as they head to Lexington, KY to do battle with #1 Kentucky at the Bell Soccer Complex. Sunday's match will kick at 6:00 pm and air live on ESPN+.

The winner of Sunday's match will host the winner of Portland vs. Western Michigan next weekend.

FOLLOW ALONG

Sunday night's contest will air live on ESPN+ and can be found online HERE.
Live stats for Sunday'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 – KENTUCKY

This meeting marks the first meeting of all-time between the two programs.
This meeting marks the third time the Panthers have faced the #1 team in the nation since 2019.
Pitt is 1-1-0 against the #1 team in the nation over the last three years as they earned a 2-0 road win over #1 Virginia in 2019.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS

The Wildcats enter Sunday's game as the lone undefeated team in the nation as they own a 15-0-5 record on the year. They earned the Sun Belt Conference title with a 2-0 win over James Madison.
Kentucky opened up their NCAA Tournament last weekend with a 4-0 second round home victory over South Florida. They had four different goal scorers on their four goals as they played a strong all around game.
As a team, Kentucky leads the NCAA in goal differential (+38) while ranking third in goals (52) and third in points (159).
The Wildcats are being led offensively by Nick Gutmann who leads the NCAA in assists (18) while posting a team-high 28 points. Casper Grening is tied for the team lead with 10 goals and 25 points while Eythor Bjorgolfsson has 10 goals and 22 points in 18 matches.
In goal, freshman Casper Mols was named Sun Belt Goalkeeper of the Year as he posted a great season while making 15 starts. He owns a 11-0-4 record with a 0.68 goals against average, .714 save percentage and nine clean sheets on the year.

PANTHERS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

This marks the fourth straight season and fourth time overall the Panthers have earn a bid in the NCAA Tournament.
The Panthers have now won at least one tournament game in all four seasons they have earned a bid.
This marks the Panthers' third straight trip to the Sweet 16.
Pitt currently owns a 8-2-1 record in NCAA Tournament games all-time.
The Panthers are in search of their third straight trip to the Elite Eight on Sunday.

Date                 Opponent         Result
11/21/20          Lehigh              W, 2-0
11/24/20          at Georgetown L, 5-0
5/2/21              Monmouth       W, 6-1
5/6/21              UCF                  W, 4-0
5/10/21            Washington      W, 3-0
5/14/21            Indiana             L, 1-0
11/21/21          No. Illinois        W, 5-2
11/27/21          Hofstra             W, 4-0
12/4/21            at Notre Dame T, 1-1
11/17/22          Cleveland St.     W, 2-1
11/20/22          at Akron           W, 3-0

SCORING POINTS IN BUNCHES

The Panthers have scored 39 goals, 45 assists and 123 points so far this season.
The 45 assists are the second most in a single season in program history while the 123 points are the third most in a single season in program history. The 39 goals are ninth all-time.
Overall, the Panthers have six players who have recorded at least nine points and four with 11+ points on the year.
Senior Valentin Noel leads the squad with 21 points while Filip Mirkovic and Bertin Jacquesson are tied for second on the squad with 18 points on the year.

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 41-1-3 overall record when they record the first goal of the match.
The Panthers are 9-0-1 this year when scoring the first goal while being just 1-4-3 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                 9-0-1                .950
2021                 11-0-2              .923
2020-21            14-0-0              1.000
2019                 8-1-0                .889

UP NEXT

With a win, the Panthers would advance to their third straight Elite Eight and would play the winner of Portland and Western Michigan at home next weekend. The game would be either Friday, Dec. 2 or Saturday, Dec. 3.

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