Panthers Primed for Friday Night Showdown at Maryland

PITTSBURGH – Following a scoreless draw against Incarnate Word on Monday, the Pitt men's soccer team travels to face Maryland on Friday night at Ludwig Field in College Park, Md.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Big Ten Network, with Dean Linke (play-by-play) and Patrick Doody (analyst) on the call.

Need to Know - Match 8
Pitt (3-3-1, 0-2-0 ACC) at Maryland (4-0-1, 1-0-0 B1G)
Friday, Sept. 19, 2025 – 7 p.m. – BTN
College Park, Md. – Ludwig Field

The Opening Kick

Pitt head coach Jay Vidovich and Maryland's Sasho Cirovski both rank among the top 10 on the NCAA all-time wins list, combining for 832 career victories.
Monday's 0-0 draw against Incarnate Word was Pitt's first tie since Oct. 21, 2023, against Duke.
The Panthers enter Friday's matchup with Maryland on a 216:01 scoreless streak.
Pitt has controlled possession by 65 percent or more in its last three matches—71 percent vs. Butler, 73 percent vs. Notre Dame and 68 percent vs. Incarnate Word.
Graduate midfielder Arnau Vilamitjana leads the Panthers with nine points. He tallied three assists in the win over Butler and has scored all three of his goals this season on set pieces.

The Series

Friday will mark the fifth all-time meeting between Pitt and Maryland.
Although the Panthers have never defeated the Terrapins, head coach Jay Vidovich is 10-10-2 against Maryland during his career, dating back to his time at Wake Forest.

Scouting the Terrapins

The Terrapins enter Friday's contest unbeaten at 4-0-1, including 1-0-0 in Big Ten play.
Maryland owns signature wins over then-No. 25 Georgetown and Wisconsin.
Freshman forward Rocket Ritarita paces the attack with a team-high eight points on two goals and four assists.
Defensively, the Terps have conceded just three goals. Goalkeeper Laurin Mack has recorded 16 saves while facing 42 shots.

Last Time Out (vs. Incarnate Word)
Despite controlling the run of play and generating more chances, Pitt was held to a 0-0 draw against Incarnate Word on Monday evening at Ambrose Urbanic Field.

The Panthers dominated possession, holding the ball for 68 percent of the match, and outshot the Cardinals 12-9.

Pitt fired eight shots in the first half but couldn't find a breakthrough against Incarnate Word goalkeeper Alejandro DeLaTorre, who made three saves in the shutout.

Junior forward Albert Thorsen provided much of the pressure for Pitt, recording a match-high five shots. Of note, two of Thorsen's five attempts ricocheted off the woodwork.

Graduate midfielder Arnau Vilamitjana added three attempts, while freshman forward Loke Mattsson and freshman midfielder Jakob Löpping came off the bench to generate looks in the second half.

Incarnate Word weathered the early surge before growing into the game after halftime, creating seven of its nine shots in the final 45 minutes. Panthers goalkeeper Jack Moxom turned away a pair of dangerous efforts, including saves on Andres Riera in the 51st minute and Francisco Segura in the 86th, to preserve the clean sheet. He finished with three saves for his second shutout of the season.

The match grew more physical in the second half as Incarnate Word picked up four yellow cards, but Pitt avoided cautions. Both teams managed three shots on target and three corner kicks.

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