Pitt men’s soccer reaches NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 for 3rd consecutive season
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The Pitt men’s soccer team is starting to make a habit of Sweet 16 appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
For the third year in a row, Pitt (10-4-5, 3-2-3 ACC) earned its berth Sunday with a 3-0 victory at No. 16 Akron’s FirstEnergy Stadium. The victory was historic for another reason. It was Pitt’s first at Akron since 1965.
Pitt opened the scoring on a penalty kick in the ninth minute after Mateo Maillefa was tackled inside the box by Akron goalkeeper Mitch Budler. Valentin Noel found the back of the lower left corner of the net.
Noel recorded another penalty kick in the second half after Bertin Jacquesson was tackled inside the Akron box. The goal was the 33rd of his career, second in program history.
Pitt scored its third goal a minute after goalkeeper Joe van der Sar made a diving stop of an Akron free kick. Jackson Gilman started the play with a header to Jacquesson, who shot toward the goal where Luis Sahmkow redirected the ball into the lower left corner for his fourth goal of the season.
Pitt’s van der Sar made five stops in his seventh shutout of 2022, fourth-most in a single season in program history.
Next up is a third-round date with No. 1 Kentucky on Sunday in Lexington, Ky.
Pitt women bow out
The Pitt women, ranked No. 19 in the nation, were eliminated Sunday in the third round of the NCAA Tournament with a 3-0 loss to No. 5 Florida State (16-2-3), the reigning NCAA champion, in Tallahassee, Fla.
“I think we’re all walking out with our head held high,” Pitt coach Randy Waldrum said. “We lost to a great team. We knew what we were getting into, and they were fantastic. It would’ve taken us to be very good again, like we were at home, and it would’ve taken them to have a little bit of an off night for the result to have gone a little bit different. I’m just proud of the effort and the performance that we put in.”
The Panthers (14-5-3) set program records in overall, ACC and home victories (14, 5, 8), points (138) and goals (47). Pitt reached the ACC and NCAA tournaments for the first time.