Panthers Concludes Regular Season Thursday at No. 15 Notre Dame

PITTSBURGH – Pitt travels to South Bend, Ind., Thursday, Oct. 31 to face No. 15 Notre Dame in the final regular season match of the 2024 season. The Halloween night affair, slated for a 7 p.m. first kick, is the Panthers third consecutive contest against a ranked opponent.

FOLLOW ALONG

Thursday's ACC matchup will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.
Live stats for the game will be available HERE.
Live updates throughout the game will be posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) by following the Pitt women's soccer account @Pitt_WSOC.

IN THE POLLS

Pitt is unranked in both the United Soccer Coaches Poll and Top Drawer Soccer rankings. The Panthers enter the week ranked 36th in NCAA RPI. Notre Dame enters the contest ranked in the top 15 of the United Soccer Coaches Poll (No. 15) and Top Drawer Soccer Rankings (No. 10). The Fighting Irish are also 11th in NCAA RPI.

PITT VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS

The Panthers are 5-9-2 in their past 16 matches against ranked opponents. Pitt is 0-3-2 this season against teams ranked in the top 25 of the United Soccer Coaches Poll. Five of Pitt's nine wins all-time against ranked opponents have come under Randy Waldrum's direction.

THE SERIES

Pitt is 1-14-3 all-time against Notre Dame. The Panthers have a three-match unbeaten streak against the Fighting Irish with a 1-0-2 mark in that span. Pitt posted a 3-1 win over Notre Dame on September 25, 2022 and the two teams played to a 1-1 draw in the 2022 ACC Tournament with Notre Dame advancing, 5-4, on penalty kicks. Last season, Pitt drew with the Irish, 1-1, as Deborah Abiodun scored off an assist from Keera Melenhorst in the 83rd minute of action.

SCOUTING THE FIGHTING IRISH

Notre Dame is coming off its first conference loss of the season after dropping Sunday's contest at home 2-0 against Virginia Tech (11-3-3). The Fighting Irish had not lost in their last 14 contests preceding the match, going 10-0-4 in that stretch. Notre Dame enters the game ranked 15th nationally in total goals (41) and 17th nationally in total points (121). The Fighting Irish are led by freshman Izzy Engle, who has 13 goals and 27 points this season with three game-winning goals.

PITT IN THE STATISTICAL RANKINGS

The Panthers are currently ranked in the top 10 in the nation in assists per game (6th - 3.15), corner kicks per game (8th - 7.62), points per game (7th - 8.38), shots per game (2nd - 23.23), shots on goal per game (4th - 10.46), total assists (4th - 41), total goals (9th - 34), and total points (5th - 109).

HIGH SCORING QUARTET

Pitt's roster features four of the top 12 career goal scorers in program history. Sarah Schupansky is second with 31 career goals, while Samiah Phiri ranks fourth with 22 goals. Midfielder Ellie Coffield has 15 career goals to rank tied for ninth all-time and Keera Melenhorst is tied for 11th with 13 goals.

SCHUPANSKY LEADING PANTHERS & NCAA

Sarah Schupansky leads the NCAA in assists (15) and assists per game (0.94), while also ranking 14th in the country with 27 points (6 goals / 15 assists) and 19th in points per game (1.69). She leads the ACC and ranks seventh in the NCAA in shots on goal per game (2.56) and is 10th in the nation in shots per game (4.56).

The Pittsburgh, Pa., native matched a program record with four assists in a 6-1 win over Dartmouth (Sept. 5) and became the second player in Pitt history to record 100 career points during the 7-0 win over Mercyhurst (Sept. 8).

She recorded two assists in Pitt's win over Syracuse (Oct. 13) to set the school single-season assists record (15). Schupansky has five multi-assist games on the season and has tallied two or more points in a game seven times in 2024.

With her next start, Schupansky will set the program record for career starts (78) by a field player. She already holds the school record for career assists (43) and is chasing Pitt records for career points, shots, and shots on goal.

ABIODUN IS BACK

Sophomore standout Deborah Abiodun has come on strong after missing six games due to injury prior to the start of ACC play. She scored her first goal of the season in the win over Clemson and followed up with a brace in the Panthers 3-0 win over Syracuse. Abiodun also scored Pitt's lone goal against No. 22 Florida State and now leads the Panthers with four goals in ACC play.

Abiodun competed for her home country of Nigeria at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

PHIRI ROAD

Senior Samiah Phiri recorded the second brace of her career with two second half goals in a 3-1 win over Louisville to open ACC play. Phiri leads the Panthers and is tied for sixth in the ACC with eight goals on the season.

Phiri ranks fourth with 22 career goals and fifth with 55 career points at Pitt.

MELENHORST HAVING HER BEST SEASON

Keera Melenhorst has a career-best five goals and 15 points for the Panthers in 2024 with her five assists ranking 12th in the ACC and is just one assist away from her career high.

Melenhorst is second on the team with three goals in ACC play.