THE MATCHUP
PITTSBURGH – The No. 19-ranked Pitt women’s soccer team (12-4-3, 5-3-2 ACC) will make history Saturday when it hosts Mid-American Conference champion Buffalo (15-1-4, 7-0-4 MAC) at Ambrose Urbanic Field in the 2022 NCAA Championship First Round. First touch is scheduled for 7 p.m. The showdown will be streamed live on ESPN+.
The Panthers earned the program’s first-ever selection to the NCAA Tournament field as a No. 4 national seed. Pitt qualified for the NCAA Tournament field as one of 33 at-large bids. Buffalo earned one of 31 automatic qualifying bids after winning the MAC regular season and tournament titles. The Bulls will be making their second NCAA Tournament appearance.
The winner of Saturday’s matchup will play the winner of the First Round game between No. 5 national seed Georgetown and Hofstra on Friday, Nov. 18 in the Second Round. Second and third rounds will be conducted at eight non-predetermined campus sites. At each campus site, four teams will compete in a single-elimination second-round competition. The two winning teams will then compete against each other in a single-elimination third-round competition at the same campus site. The winning team from each of the eight third rounds advances to the quarterfinals.
HISTORY MADE
Pitt has been growing accustomed to making history.
The Panthers qualified for both the ACC Championship and NCAA Championship fields for the first time in program history in 2022. Pitt will join New Mexico State and Omaha as first time participants in the NCAA Tournament this season.
Pitt clinched its first-ever berth in the ACC Championship field courtesy of a 0-0 draw with Clemson to close out the 2022 regular season. The Panthers had last appeared in postseason play in 2010 – a 1-0 loss at DePaul in the Big East Tournament First Round.
Pitt fell to No. 4-ranked Notre Dame in a penalty kick shootout, 5-4, in the 2022 ACC Championship First Round after playing to a 1-1 draw following two overtime periods. Freshman Katie Zailski came up clutch for Pitt in the 70th minute, converting on a scramble in front of the net to ultimately send the game to overtime. Leah Pais assisted on the game-tying goal.
ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
Senior midfielder Landy Mertz and freshman defender Katie Zailski represented Pitt on the 2022 All-ACC teams, with Mertz being named…
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