Pitt Men's Soccer Drops from No. 1 Ranking

Pitt Men's Soccer dropped from the No. 1 ranking after back-to-back defeats.

Pitt Men's Soccer Celebrates a goal / Courtesy of Pitt Athletic

PITTSBURGH -- Pitt Panthers men's soccer dropped from the No. 1 ranking in the most recent United Soccer Coaches Poll, after suffering two defeats last week.

Pitt lost 1-0 to both ACC newcomer Cal on Oct. 11 and then High Point on Oct. 14 for their first back-to-back defeats this season. Those losses ended a seven-match win streak and dropped them three spots down to No. 4 in the poll.

The Panthers held the No. 1 ranking for three straight weeks after starting off 2024 unranked. They had

Rival West Virginia moved up to No. 1 from No. 4, ACC newcomer Stanford jumped to No. 2 from No. 5 and Marshall also rose three spaces to No. 3 from No. 6. Previously ranked No. 2 Ohio State fell to No. 5 and previously ranked No. 3 Denver dropped to No. 14.

Pitt dealt with illness last week and it showed in the games they played, as they struggled to play the way they normally did. Cal took the lead in the 21st minute off poor goalkeeping and High Point took their lead in the 23rd minute off a header and Pitt never found the tying goal in either game.

Going down early in both matches made it difficult for Pitt to break down their opponents, as they chose to sit back and prevent chances, with Cal doing this more so than High Point.

Pitt Men's Soccer Schedule Ahead

Pitt has three matches left in the regular season and all of them in the ACC. They will start off with a road test against No. 7 North Carolina on Oct. 19 with a 6:00 p.m. kickoff.

The Tar Heels are 8-2-1 (W-L-D) all-time in the series, but the Panthers won at home in 2021 and on the road in 2022, while drawing in 2023.

Pitt will also face Virginia at home for Senior Night on Oct. 25 and then against rival Syracuse on the road on Nov. 1 before the start of the ACC Tournament.

The Panthers still lead the ACC with a 4-1 record, but will need to play their best to end the season on a great note and also in the conference tournament, to get homefield advantage in the NCAA Tournament.

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