University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Women's Soccer Faces Cincinnati in Battle of Unbeatens
9/3/2022 11:58:00 AM | Women's Soccer
THE MATCHUP
PITTSBURGH - Ambrose Urbanic Field will host a battle of unbeatens Sunday to close out the third week of the 2022 regular season as the Pitt women's soccer team (5-0-0) puts its perfect start on the line against undefeated Cincinnati (3-0-2). First touch is scheduled for 1 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online in advance for $5 per game or purchased on gameday for $8 at the Petersen Sports Complex Ticket Office. The contest will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra, with Jason Earle and Jayna Fittipaldo calling the action.
STARTING OUT HOT
With its 5-0 start to the 2022 campaign, the Panthers have come storming out of the gate each of the last three seasons. Pitt won its first six games of the season in 2020, then rattled off five straight wins to begin the '21 regular season.
BUILDING THE PROGRAM
The Panthers are now 36-34-1 under the leadership of fifth-year head Randy Waldrum. After going 9-22-4 in the first two years of a massive rebuild, Pitt has gone 27-14 over the last two-plus seasons.
OFFENSIVE ONSLAUGHT
Pitt has outscored the opposition 22-1 so far in 2022, including 19-1 over the last three games alone. The Panthers most recently rolled to a 7-0 victory over Kent State on Wednesday, marking the second time in as many seasons that Pitt has registered a 7-0 win, beating Saint Francis by the same score on Sept. 9, 2021. This is also the third-straight season in which Pitt has scored seven goals in a game, with a 7-1 win over App State on Sept. 13, 2020, starting the streak. The Panthers have totaled at least six goals in a game five times and have won by at least five goals seven times in the last three years.
The Panthers currently lead NCAA Division I in total points (63) and total goals (22) and boast the nation's third-best scoring offense (4.40 points per game). Pitt also ranks second in the country in total assists (19), fourth in shots per game (22.80) and fifth in shots on goal per game (10.80).
ANOTHER RECORD BROKEN BY WEST
Amanda West added yet another achievement to her lengthy list of them during her career at Pitt when she assisted on Landy Mertz's goal in the sixth minute against Kent State, giving her a program-record 21 career assists. She achieved the milestone in her 50th career game and start as a Panther.
West is also Pitt's all-time leader in points (99), points per game (1.98), career three-plus point games (15), goals (39), goals per game (0.78), game-winning goals (16), assists per game (0.42), shots (176), shots per game (3.52), shots on goal (97) and shots on goal per game (1.94). Her 39 career goals are the most among active ACC players and the fifth-most among active NCAA Division I players. She is NCAA Division I's active leader in both points per game and goals per game. With her record-breaking assist, West also became a member of Division I's 30-20 Club (at least 30 career goals and at least 20 career assists), becoming the sixth active member on that list.
A CAREER NIGHT
Sarah Schupansky tied for the third-most points in a single game in program history in Wednesday's win over Kent State with seven after scoring two goals and distributing three assists. After not registering a point in her first three games this year, Schupansky has tallied nine over the last two contests.
FINDING BALANCE
While Amanda West has once again been the catalyst of Pitt's attack with a team-high 14 points (tied for first in the nation) and six goals (tied for third-most in the country), the Panthers have seen 10 different players find the back of the net so far this season. Sarah Schupansky and Landy Mertz have each tallied three goals while Emily Yaple, Ellie Coffield and Fleming Dean have cashed in twice. Ashton Gordon, Bri Hilsenteger, Samiah Phiri and Anna Bout have each found the back of the net once over the last four contests.
HOW MAY WE ASSIST?
Ten different Panthers have distributed assists this season, with Sarah Schupansky, Anna Bout and Leah Pais pacing the squad with three apiece. Amanda West, Landy Mertz and Emily Yaple have each accounted for two assists while Ellie Coffield, Ashton Gordon, Samiah Phiri and Ashley Moon have all logged one helper.
SHUT IT DOWN
The Panthers opened the 2022 season by earning a pair of shutout victories at the Rumble in the Rockies in Missoula, Mont. Pitt blanked Gonzaga, 1-0, in the season opener, then stifled host Montana, 2-0, three days later. The Panthers started a new season with back-to-back shutout victories for the first time since 2017. Last Sunday's 6-0 rout of Cleveland State and Wednesday's 7-0 romp over Kent State made it four shutouts in five tries. Pitt's four shutouts are already tied for the eighth-most in a single season in program history.
LAZZ LOCKS IT DOWN
Caitlyn Lazzarini put together a career effort in the season-opening shutout of Gonzaga with 10 saves. She added three more saves to her weekend total in the blanking of Montana, giving her six career shutouts. Lazzarini takes a clean sheet of 315 minutes into Sunday's game against Cincinnati after shutting out UMass, Cleveland State and Kent State in the first halves of those contests before being relieved.
MAKING THEIR DEBUTS
A trio of Panthers made their Pitt debuts in the win over Gonzaga. Freshmen Fleming Dean and Katie Zailski made their collegiate debuts while sophomore transfer Samiah Phiri saw action in the Blue & Gold for the first time after transferring from Oklahoma State. Zailski then made her first collegiate start in the victory over Montana while Haylee Mersereau and Briana Rodriguez made their collegiate debuts off the bench.
Five other Panthers made their Pitt debuts in the home opener against UMass, including sophomore transfer Keera Melenhorst and freshmen Ellie Breech, Margaret Wilde, Keely Brown and Misa Kasparcova.
Thursday's win over Kent State saw Melenhorst make her first career start as a Panther.
BACK SOON
Randy Waldrum will be absent from Pitt's bench on Sunday against Cincinnati as he will be performing his duties as head coach of the Nigeria Women's Senior National Team. The Super Falcons are set to take on the United States Women's National Team in a pair of exhibition matches, with the first being played Saturday at Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City (1:30 p.m., FOX) and the second played on Tuesday at Audi Field in Washington, D.C. (6 p.m., ESPN2). The Super Falcons have secured one of four spots for the African nations in the 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand under Waldrum's watch after Nigeria earned a 1-0 win over Cameroon in the quarterfinals of the African Women's World Cup of Nations (WAFCON) tournament in Casablanca in July.
Waldrum will return to coach Pitt in their next game at VCU on Thursday. Associate head coach Ben Waldrum will act as Pitt's head coach on Sunday against Cincinnati.
UP NEXT
Pitt is back on the road on Thursday as the Panthers play at VCU in a 7 p.m. matchup in Richmond, Va. The contest will be streamed live on ESPN+.
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