Pitt Welcomes Portland Saturday Afternoon For Elite Eight Showdown

PITTSBURGH – With a trip to the 2022 College Cup on the line, the Pitt men’s soccer team (11-4-5, 3-2-3 ACC) hosts Portland in the NCAA Championship Quarterfinals Saturday afternoon at Ambrose Urbanic Field. Saturday’s match will start at 1:00 pm and air live on ESPN+ with Kevin Wheeler and David Day on the call.
 
Hosting an Elite Eight match for the first time, Pitt will be looking to advance to their second College Cup in the last three seasons. With a win Saturday afternoon, Pitt would move on to Cary, NC to take on the winner of Indiana and UNC Greensboro in the national semifinals on Friday, Dec. 9.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

• Saturday afternoon’s contest will air live on ESPN+ and can be found online HERE.
• Live stats for Saturday’s game can be found HERE.
• Live updates throughout the game will also be posted on Twitter by following the Pitt men’s soccer account @Pitt_MSOC.

THE OPENING KICK

• The Panthers continued their run in the 2022 NCAA Championships Sunday night as they knocked off the previously unbeaten and #1 overall seed Kentucky on the road, 2-1 thanks to a Bertin Jacquesson marker in the 87th minute.
• Pitt is now 11-4-5 overall on the year as they host Portland Saturday afternoon at Ambrose Urbanic Field. Pitt will be looking for their second trip to the College Cup in the last three years.
• Portland comes to Pittsburgh with a 15-2-3 overall record after collecting tournament wins over UC Riverside, #8 Oregon State and Western Michigan. Overall the Pilots have won five straight entering the match Saturday.
• The dynamic French duo of Valentin Noel and Bertin Jacquesson netted both goals in the Panthers’ upset victory over Kentucky on Sunday. The duo has now combined to score 18 goals this season and 53 across their careers. Noel now sits in second place on the all-time goals chart (34) and points chart (81) while Jacquesson is second all-time in assists (22) and seventh in points (60).

THE SERIES – PORTLAND

• This meeting marks the first meeting of all-time between the two squads.
• Pitt is 0-1-0 all-time against current members of the West Coast Conference (WCC) as they fell 1-0 at home against Saint Mary’s (Ca.) in 2016. 

SCOUTING THE PILOTS

• The Pilots enter Saturday’s match with a 15-2-3 overall record as they downed Western Michigan 1-0 last weekend at home to advance their…