No. 3 Pitt Poised for Friday Showdown With Penn State

PITTSBURGH – After surging to No. 3 nationally following the first week of action, the Pitt men's soccer team will travel east to face in-state foe Penn State Friday evening at Jeffrey Field in University Park, Pa.

Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. ET, and the match can be streamed via Big Ten Plus.

    Need to Know - Game 3
    No. 3 Pitt (2-0-0) at Penn State (1-1-0)
    Friday, Aug. 30, 2024 - 7 PM - B1G+
    University Park, Pa. – Jeffrey Field

Scouting the Nittany Lions

Penn State has opened the 2024 campaign with a 1-1 record, including a win over Army in its most recent contest.
This season, the Nittany Lions were picked to finish second in the Big Ten Coaches Poll.
- Additionally, sophomore defender Mohamed Cisset, sophomore midfielder Caden Grabfelder and junior defender Matthew Henderson were tabbed as Big Ten Players to Watch.
Penn State won its fifth Big Ten regular season title a year ago.
The Nittany Lions welcome 12 newcomers with seven transfers and five freshmen.
- They also return 14 letterwinners from last season to complete the 27 man-roster.

Series History

Friday's contest will mark the 37th all-time meeting between the Panthers and the Nittany Lions.
- Penn State leads the all-time series 24-8-4; however, during the Jay Vidovich era, the two sides are 2-2-1.
Last season, the Panthers and Nittany Lions battled to a 1-1 draw at Ambrose Urbanic Field.
- Penn State held a 1-0 lead at the halftime break, before a 79th minute goal by Albert Thorsen tied the contest.
  - Of note, last season's draw marked the first in the all-time series since 1976.

Last Time Out
Behind second half tallies from Thorsen and Guilherme Feitosa, Pitt earned a 2-0 victory over Mercyhurst Sunday evening at Ambrose Urbanic Field.

Sunday's win marked Pitt's second 2-0 start over the past three seasons. Additionally, with the victory, the Panthers improved to 6-1 all-time against Mercyhurst (0-1, 0-0 NEC).

The two sides played to a scoreless draw through the first 45 minutes of action, before Pitt broke the deadlock just over eight minutes into the second frame. In the 54th minute, junior defender Jackson Gilman played a perfect through-ball to freshman forward Lasse Dahl on the right wing, who found a streaking Thorsen in the box.

After taking a 1-0 lead, the Panthers remained on the attack, resulting in several quality chances. At the 77:30 mark, Feitosa fired a strike towards the right post that nearly snuck past the outreached arms of the Lakers' keeper, giving Pitt a 2-0 advantage.

The Panthers' stout defense continued for the remainder of the match, as Pitt held on for its second clean sheet of the season.

Historic Leap
After opening the 2024 campaign unranked, Pitt recently rose to No. 3 nationally, according to the United Soccer Coaches Poll. Of note, Pitt's No. 3 ranking is the program's highest since Aug. 30, 2022.

	United Soccer Coaches	TopDrawerSoccer
Week 1	Unranked	Unranked
Week 2	No. 3	No. 10

Thorsen's Hot Start
Thorsen opened the 2024 season in stellar fashion, recording a goal and an assist in the Pitt's 2-0 upset victory over No. 16 Georgetown. Thorsen then followed up his performance with a goal in Panthers' 2-0 win over Mercyhurst on Sunday. Through two matches, Thorsen has scored, or assisted, on three of Pitt's four goals this season - tallying five points.

A 2023 ACC All-Freshman selection, Thorsen currently ranks second in the ACC and 29th nationally, averaging 2.5 points per game. Additionally, he leads the ACC in game winning goals with two.

    ACC Leaders (Points Per Game)
        Ulfur Bjornsson - Duke (4.50)
        Albert Thorsen - Pitt (2.50)
        Samy Kolby - Virginia Tech (2.50)
        Gage Guerra - Louisville (2.00)
        Ask Ekeland - Boston College (2.00)

Key Players to Watch

Guilherme Feitosa - Captain
- Netted a goal in the win over Mercyhurst
- Career Accolades
  - ACC Co-Offensive Player of the Week - Oct. 12, 2021
  - 2021 TopDrawerSoccer Freshman Top 100 List (No. 28)
  - 2021 College Soccer News All-Freshman Second Team
  - 2021 All-ACC Freshman Team
Jackson Gilman - Captain
- Career Accolades
  - 2023 Third Team All-ACC
  - 2023 TopDrawerSoccer Midseason top 100 list (No. 16)
  - 2023 TopDrawerSoccer Preseason top 100 List (No. 46)
  - 2022 ACC All-Freshman Team
  - 2022 College Soccer News All-Freshman First Team
  - 2022 TopDrawerSoccer Freshmen Best XI First Team
  - 2022 TopDrawerSoccer Freshmen Postseason Top 100 List (No. 10)
Albert Thorsen
- Has tallied two goals and an assist this season
  - Career Accolades
    - 2023 ACC All-Freshman Team
    - 2023 TopDrawerSoccer Freshmen Postseason top 100 list (No. 43)
    - 2023 TopDrawerSoccer Freshmen Midseason top 100 list (No. 11)

Up Next
Following Friday's matchup with Penn State, Pitt will travel to face Penn on Sunday. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m., and the match can be streamed via ESPN+.