Inside The Panthers

Pitt Men's Soccer Falls to Virginia in ACC Quarterfinals

Pitt Panthers men's soccer lost to Virginia in ACC Quarterfinals.

Dominic Campbell

Pitt Men's Soccer forward Casper Grening
Pitt Men's Soccer forward Casper Grening / Courtesy of Pitt Athletic

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers men's soccer fell to Virginia at Ambrose Urbanic Field in the ACC Quarterfinals, ending their chances at a conference championship.

The Panthers (12-5) fall to the Cavaliers for the forst time this season, as they defeated them 4-1 at home back on Oct. 25 for Senior Night. This makes it back-to-back seasons without a win in the ACC Tournament, as they lost at home to Louisville, 2-1 in extra time, in the First Round in 2023.

Pitt earned a First round-bye after they won their first ever ACC Regular Season Title. They were the only ACC team who didn't have to play in the First Round, as the additions of Stanford and Cal from the Pac-12, plus SMU from the American made it a 15-team league instead of 12.

This meant that instead of the top four seeds earning a First Round-bye, in previous seasons, only the top team got it, in the Panthers.

Pitt faced off against a Virginia team that had to beat NC State in the previous round on the road. They used two second half goals and a goal-line clearance at the buzzer to comeback and get the First Round win.

The first half saw little action from either side. The Cavaliers chose to sit back and had just one shot throughout the period, while the Panthers had to rely on getting some corner kicks and scoring off them.

They only had three shots themselves in the first half, with the best chance coming in the 19th minute. Senior defender Mateo Maillefaud took the corner and put the ball right in the box, which found senior forward Casper Grening, but his header went over the bar.

Virginia would make the break-through in the 69th minute to give them the lead. Senior defender Paul Weise took a quick corner and found fifth year midfielder Daniel Mangarov, who whipped in a fast cross right to junior midfielder Umberto PelΓ  for a header to make it 1-0.

The Cavaliers then scored almost immediately after to double their lead. Maillefaud passed it back to Panthers freshman defender Niklas Soerensen, who lost the ball, allowing Cavaliers sophomore forward AJ Smith to take it, run with it and shoot it into the bottom corner, making it 2-0.

Pitt looked like they got a goal back in the 82nd minute, as sophomore forward Albert Thorsen found senior forward Luis Sahmkow, who bounced the cross off his chest and it richohted off of Virginia graduate student goal keeper Tom Miles in the net.

The referee called it a goal, but after video review, determined that it Sahmkow was offside.

The Panthers failed to make any real scoring opportunites and it doomed them in this defeat, as they only had one shot on goal.

Pitt will await their next game with the NCAA Tournament Selection show, which takes place on Nov. 18.

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Dominic Campbell
DOMINIC CAMPBELL

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