Preview: Pitt Men's Soccer Hosts UMKC in Sweet 16

Pitt Panthers men's soccer hosts UMKC in Sweet 16/NCAA Tournament.

Dominic Campbell | Dec 1, 2024

Pitt Men's Soccer in a huddle before kickoff / Courtesy of Pitt Athletic

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers will host UMKC in the Sweet 16 at Ambrose Urbanic Field with a chance to make another Elite Eight Appearnce.

Pitt Men's Soccer 2024 Season Overview

Pitt won the ACC Regular Season Title for the first time in program history, as they finished 6-2 in conference play, with their only losses to Cal at home on Oct. 11 and Syracuse on the road on Nov. 1. That Cal lost came at a time that sickness spread rapidly through the Pitt squad.

They had three ranked wins in the ACC, all coming on the road. This includes a 3-1 victory, over No. 22 SMU on Sept. 7 in their ACC opener, 2-0 over No. 17 Virginia Tech on Sept. 28 and 2-1 vs. No. 7 North Carolina on Oct. 19, featuring two goals from graduate student midfielder Arnau Vilamitjana, including the winner in the 88th minute.

Pitt had home wins of 3-2 vs. Louisville on Sept. 13, 2-0 over Boston College on Sept. 20 and 4-1 over Virginia on Oct. 25.

The Panthers finished the regular season 12-4 overall, which is a big improvement over their 6-5-4 (W-L-D) finish in the 2023 regular season. They also held the No. 1 ranking for three weeks, the first time doing so since 2020.

Pitt's other defeats came to Penn on the road on Sept. 1 and High Point at home on Oct. 14 for their other two regular season losses.

They earned a First Round bye in the ACC Tournament, but played poorly vs. No. 9 Virginia, losing 2-0 in the Quarterfinals on Nov. 10.

Pitt earned a No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, which will allow them to host through to the Final Four.

They earned a First Round bye and then hosted Cornell in the Round of 32, who gave them a great challenge.

Pitt went down to 10 men, as junior defender Jackson Gilman picked up a red card in the 40th minute, just the second of his career.

The Panthers managed to take the lead, as a hand ball on the Big Red led to a penalty, and graduate student midfielder Arnau Vilamitjana stepped up and slotted it home.

Pitt would hold off attempts from Cornell the rest of the way, winning 1-0 and making it to the Round of 16.

Kansas City Preview

UMKC, or Missouri-Kansas City, plays in the Summit League and this will serve as the first meeting between the two schools.

They rebranded to the Kansas City Roos back in 2019 and joined the Summit League in 2020, one of just five members of the conference with the third highest RPI.

Kansas City have a 14-4-3 record (W-L-D) and a 5-2-1 record in the Summit League. They split the season series with No. 3 Denver, but would win the Summit League Final over them, 2-1, on the road.

The Roos have only made the NCAA Tournament four times in their history, 2001, 2003, 2008 and this season.

Ryan Pore, in his fifth season as head coach, has gotten the program to the Sweet 16, the farthest in its history.

Junior forward Elie Kisoka leads the Roos with 12 goals and has also created eight assists, winning Summit League Offensive Player of the Year and Summit League Newcomer of the Year honors. He also scored the game-winning goal vs. Denver in the Summit League final.

Kansas City also has two Summit League First Team honorees in senior midfielder Julien Le Bourdoulous, who leads the team with 10 assists, and senior defender Fernando Somolinos Bravo.

UMKC traveled for both of their NCAA Tournament matches, but stayed in the state of Missouri, making their travel easier than most other teams.

They defeated Saint Louis, 2-0 in the First Round and No. 15 Missouri State, 2-1 in the Second Round. They scored two second half goals in each match and Le Bourdoulous made an assist on a corner in each game.

Other players to watch out for include senior goalkeeper Brandon McGaugh, who made some big saves vs. Missouri State, junior midfielders Mathias Baucher and Raphael Kistmann, who has scored eight goals and made six assists and forwards in junior Siro Shibota and sophomore Jeremy Francou.

Pitt Men's Soccer Preview

Pitt will have all of their starters ready for Kansas City, aside from Gilman who will sit out due to his red card.

Junior goalkeeper Cabral Carter will have a backline of three consistent players, freshman centre-back Niklas Sorensen, senior left back Mateo Maillefaud and junior right back Casper Svendby, who won the ACC Defender of the Year Award.

Pitt head coach Jay Vidovich may put senior midfielder Michael Sullivan at centre-back, or chose to go with freshman Daniel Gamboa Gonzalez. With this big of a game on the line, it's likely he goes with Sullivan.

That gives a midfield trio of Vilamitjana, graduate student Felipe Mercado and senior Guilherme Feitosa. Expect freshman Miguel Bertran to come off the bench to give some players some rest

The three attackers that Vidovich will pick are senior Luis Sahmkow at striker, sophomore Albert Thorsen at right wing and senior Casper Grening at left wing. Freshman Lasse Dahl will come off the bench to play both wing positions and junior Eben McIntyre will do the same to play striker.