2019 Pittsburgh Panthers men's soccer team

The 2019 Pittsburgh Panthers men's soccer team represents University of Pittsburgh during the 2019 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. The Panthers are led by head coach Jay Vidovich, in his fourth season. They play home games at Ambrose Urbanic Field. This is the team's 66th season playing organized men's college soccer and their 7th playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Pitt at Georgetown in the second round of the 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament

2019 Pittsburgh Panthers men's soccer
NCAA Tournament, Second Round
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
U. Soc. Coaches poll	No. RV
TopDrawerSoccer.com	No. RV
2019 record	10–8–2 (4–3–1 ACC)
Head coach	Jay Vidovich (4th season)
Assistant coaches	Michael Behonick (4th season) Rich Costanzo (3rd season)
Home stadium	Ambrose Urbanic Field

2019 ACC men's soccer standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Atlantic
No. 5 Clemson +	6	–	1	–	1			18	–	2	–	2
No. 3 Wake Forest +	6	–	2	–	0			16	–	5	–	2
NC State +	3	–	4	–	1			9	–	7	–	3
No. 20 Louisville +	3	–	4	–	1			10	–	8	–	2
Boston College +	2	–	4	–	2			9	–	6	–	3
Syracuse +	2	–	4	–	2			8	–	7	–	4
Coastal
No. 2 Virginia ‡	6	–	1	–	1			21	–	1	–	2
Pittsburgh +	4	–	3	–	1			10	–	8	–	2
Notre Dame +	3	–	5	–	0			10	–	8	–	1
North Carolina	3	–	5	–	0			7	–	8	–	3
No. 13 Virginia Tech +	2	–	4	–	2			10	–	6	–	3
Duke	2	–	5	–	1			7	–	9	–	2
‡ – 2019 ACC Tournament champion + – Invited to the 2019 NCAA Tournament As of 17 December 2019; Rankings from United Soccer Coaches Source:The ACC

Pitt earned their first berth into the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament since 1965.

Background

Main article: 2018 Pittsburgh Panthers men's soccer team

The 2018 Pittsburgh men's soccer team finished the season with an 8–10–1 overall record and a 2–6–0 ACC record. The Panthers were seeded elevnth–overall in the 2018 ACC Men's Soccer Tournament, where they upset Virginia in the first round before losing to Duke on penalties in the second round.

The Panthers were not invited to the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. The Panthers had one player selected in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft: Javi Perez, by Los Angeles FC.[1]

Player movement

Players leaving

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Peter Prescott	2	DF	6'4"	180	Senior	Vancouver, WA	Graduated
Tom Moxham	3	DF	6'0"	165	Senior	Plymouth, England	Graduated
Shane Wiedt	4	DF	6'3"	180	Senior	Akron, OH	Graduated
Joshua Gaspari	5	MF	5'7"	158	Senior	Canberra, Australia	Graduated
Javi Perez	6	MF	5'8"	158	Senior	Valencia, Spain	Declared for 2019 MLS SuperDraft; selected 64th overall by Los Angeles FC
Robby Dambrot	22	DF	6'1"	166	Senior	Akron, OH	Graduated
Craig Bair	23	DF	5'6"	155	Senior	Brecksville, OH	Graduated

Players arriving

Name	Nat.	Hometown	Club	TDS Rating
Luke Mort FW	USA	Greensburg, PA	Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC	[2]
Veljko Petkovic MF	USA	Ridgewood, NY	NYCFC	[3]

Squad

Roster

Updated August 20, 2019[4]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 0 GK  USA Johan Penaranda 1 GK  USA Alexander Steinbach 2 DF  USA Nyk Sessock 3 DF  USA Chandler Vaughn 4 DF  USA Bryce Washington 5 DF  ESP Arturo Ordonez 6 MF  GER Lucas Cyriacus 7 MF  USA Braden Kline 8 MF  FRA Valentin Noel 9 FW  UGA Edward Kizza 11 MF  BRA Rodrigo Almeida 12 FW  ENG Josh Hesson 13 FW  USA Alexander Dexter

No. Pos. Nation Player 14 DF  ESP Sito Sena 15 FW  USA Luke Mort 17 MF  USA Alec Townsend 18 MF  USA Tim Townsend 19 MF  SRB Veljko Petkovic 20 MF  USA Matt Bailey 21 MF  USA Alex Peperak 22 DF  USA Sebastian Serpa 24 MF   SUI Jackson Walti 25 DF  USA Chad Stout 27 DF  USA Anthony Harding 28 DF  USA Tim Ekopne 32 GK  USA Arie Ammann

Team management

Position	Staff
Athletic Director	Heather Lyke
Head Coach	Jay Vidovich
Assistant Coach	Michael Behonick
Assistant Coach	Rich Costanzo

Source:[4]

Schedule

Source:[5]

Date Time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (Attendance) City, State
Exhibition
August 17* 7:00 p.m.		Duquesne	W 5–0[6]	– (–)	Ambrose Urbanic Field Pittsburgh, PA
August 23* 5:00 p.m.		at No. 17 James Madison	W 1–0[7]	– (–)	Sentara Park Harrisonburg, VA
Regular season
August 30* 8:00 p.m.		at No. 2 Indiana Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic	L 2–3 ^2OT	0–1–0 (0–0–0)	Bill Armstrong Stadium (2,847) Bloomington, IN
September 1* 5:00 p.m.		vs. Northwestern Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic	L 0–1	0–2–0 (0–0–0)	Bill Armstrong Stadium (0) Bloomington, IN
September 6* 7:30 p.m.		Liberty	W 3–0	1–2–0 (0–0–0)	Ambrose Urbanic Field (906) Pittsburgh, PA
September 9* 7:00 p.m.		Delaware	T 3–3 ^2OT	1–2–1 (0–0–0)	Ambrose Urbanic Field (309) Pittsburgh, PA
September 13 7:00 p.m.		No. 1 Wake Forest	L 0–2	1–3–1 (0–1–0)	Ambrose Urbanic Field (913) Pittsburgh, PA
September 16* 7:00 p.m.		Akron	W 1–0	2–3–1 (0–1–0)	Ambrose Urbanic Field (576) Pittsburgh, PA
September 20 5:00 p.m.		at Boston College	W 2–0	3–3–1 (1–1–0)	Newton Soccer Complex (344) Chestnut Hill, MA
September 27 7:00 p.m.		at Syracuse	T 1–1 ^2OT	3–3–2 (1–1–1)	SU Soccer Stadium (1,706) Syracuse, NY
September 30* 7:00 p.m.		Denver	W 3–2 ^2OT	4–3–2 (1–1–1)	Ambrose Urbanic Field (279) Pittsburgh, PA
October 4 7:00 p.m.		No. 20 North Carolina	L 1–2	4–4–2 (1–2–1)	Ambrose Urbanic Field (704) Pittsburgh, PA
October 7* 7:00 p.m.		Howard	W 6–0	5–4–2 (1–2–1)	Ambrose Urbanic Field (207) Pittsburgh, PA
October 11 7:00 p.m.		No. 22 Virginia Tech	W 3–1	6–4–2 (2–2–1)	Ambrose Urbanic Field (621) Pittsburgh, PA
October 15* 7:00 p.m.		at Penn State	L 1–3	6–5–2 (2–2–1)	Jeffrey Field (509) State College, PA
October 18 7:00 p.m.		at No. 1 Virginia	W 2–0	7–5–2 (3–2–1)	Klöckner Stadium (3,201) Charlottesville, VA
October 25 7:00 p.m.		Duke	W 4–3	8–5–2 (4–2–1)	Ambrose Urbanic Field (875) Pittsburgh, PA
November 1 7:00 p.m.		at Notre Dame	L 0–1	8–6–2 (4–3–1)	Alumni Stadium (584) South Bend, IN
ACC Tournament
November 10 3:00 p.m.	(4)	(5) NC State Quarterfinals	W 2–1 ^OT	9–6–2	Ambrose Urbanic Field (1,010) Pittsburgh, PA
November 13 6:00 p.m.	(4) No. 25	at (1) No. 1 Clemson Semifinals	L 0–1	9–7–2	Riggs Field (1,573) Clemson, SC
NCAA Tournament
November 21 7:00 p.m.		Lehigh First Round	W 2–0	10–7–2	Ambrose Urbanic Field (1,321) Pittsburgh, PA
November 24 12:00 p.m.		at (3) No. 2 Georgetown Second Round	L 0–5	10–8–2	Shaw Field (1,497) Washington, D.C.
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Awards and honors

Recipient	Award	Date	Ref.
Edward Kizza	All-ACC First Team	November 13, 2019	[8]
Veljko Petkovic	All-ACC Third Team
Sito Sena
Valentin Noel	All-ACC Freshman Team
Arturo Ordonez
Veljko Petkovic
Edward Kizza	All-ACC Tournament Team	November 17, 2019	[9]
Arturo Ordonez

Rankings

Main article: 2019 NCAA Division I men's soccer rankings

Ranking movement
Legend: ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. RV=Others receiving votes.

Poll	Pre	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Wk 16	Final
United Soccer[10]									RV	RV	RV	25	RV	None Released				RV
TopDrawer Soccer [11]											RV				RV	RV	RV	RV

References

1. "Perez Selected by LAFC in 2019 MLS SuperDraft". pittsburghpanthers.com. Pittsburgh Panthers Athletics. January 14, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
2. "Luke Mort". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
3. "Veljko Petkovic". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
4. "2019 Men's Soccer Roster". pittsburghpanthers.com. University of Pittsburgh Athletics. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
5. "2019 Men's Soccer Schedule". pittsburghpanthers.com. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
6. @Pitt_MSOC (August 17, 2019). "Good first test. 👍 Goals: Kizza ➡️ 2 Stout ➡️ 2 Dexter ➡️ 1 Assists: Hesson ➡️ 2 Bailey ➡️ 2 Almeida ➡️ 1 #H2P" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
7. @Pitt_MSOC (August 23, 2019). "That's a wrap on preseason play. 👏 Jackson Walti's goal in the second half via Valentin Noel's assist gives the Panthers a 1-0 win over #17 JMU. #H2P" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
8. "2019 All-ACC Men's Soccer Team Announced". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. November 13, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
9. "Virginia Wins 2019 ACC Men's Soccer Championship". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. November 17, 2019. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
10. "NCAA DI Men's National Rankings". National Soccer Coaches Association of America. December 17, 2019. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
11. "College Soccer National Rankings". TopDrawer Soccer. December 16, 2019. Retrieved December 16, 2019.