Pitt Heads to Florida, Meets Miami

Thursday, October 19

Miami, Fla.

7:00 PM

Pitt

Miami

Pitt Heads to Florida, Meets Miami

10/18/2017 1:25:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Panthers Face Hurricanes Thursday Evening

PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh women's soccer team will kick off a two-game trip in the Sunshine State, traveling to Miami Thursday evening for a meeting with the Hurricanes.

The Panthers are set to face off with the Hurricanes at 7 p.m. from Cobb Stadium in Coral Gables, Fla.

HOW TO FOLLOW

The game can be seen live on the ACC Network Extra via Watch ESPN or the WatchESPN app
Live stats will also be available here

THE MATCH
Pitt (3-9-3, 0-6-1 ACC) hits the road for the first of two games in Florida, traveling to Miami for a Thursday evening matchup with the Hurricanes. Pitt is fresh off a 3-0 loss at the hands of Louisville Friday, in the midst of the final three games of the 2017 regular season.

On the season, Pryce paces the Panther offense, having scored four goals, adding three assists. Mikayla Schmidt (2 G), Vildan Kardesler (1 G, 2 A), Seyla Perez (1 G, 1A), Christiana Davey (1 G, 1 A), Bel Van Noorden (2 A), Juelle Love (1 G) and Moreira (1 G) have all aided the Pitt offensive line.

In net, Katelyn McEachern has earned the start in all but one outing, tallying 1172:08 minutes on the year. She has allowed 22 goals and recorded 69 stops. Fellow redshirt freshman keeper Amaia Pena has seen work in four games, tallying one start, recording 245:00 minutes, allowing seven goals and making 13 stops.

SCOUTING MIAMI
Miami (4-9-0, 0-7-0 ACC) sits at the bottom of the ACC standings, with its last conference win coming against Virginia Tech on Oct. 23, 2016. The Hurricanes enter the contest after a 3-0 loss to Duke on the road and have not scored a goal since a 3-1 loss to Boston College in Coral Gables, Fla. Miami rattled off a three-game win streak to open the season, defeating St. Francis, FIU and Miami (OH). Its last win came on Sept. 3 in Hamden, Conn., in a 3-1 win over Quinnipiac.

THE SERIES
This will be the seventh all-time meeting between the two squads in a series dating back to the 1999 season. Miami holds a 4-2-0 all-time advantage, with a mark of 1-1-0 in Coral Gables, Fla.

In the last meeting, the Panthers captured a 1-0 double-overtime win at Ambrose Urbanic Field, as Hanna Hannesdottir connected on a penalty kick to secure the win. That victory was the last ACC win for the Panther squad, as Pitt is 0-10-1 since that meeting.

MCEACHERN EARNS ACC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK TITLE
Redshirt freshman keeper Katelyn McEachern was named the ACC's Defensive Player of the Week on Aug. 22 after tallying a pair of back-to-back shutouts in her collegiate debut. The rookie recorded eight saves in wins over Hofstra and Duquesne and has yet to allow a goal on the season. McEachern played the entirety of both games, tallying 190:42 minutes.

The league honor is the first for a Panther since Taylor Pryce was named the ACC Co-Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 29, 2015 after scoring game winning goals against Wake Forest and Louisville.

RETURNING TALENT
Pitt's 2017 squad gets a boost, as both Ashley Moreira and Taylor Pryce will return to the starting lineups, after missing the 2016 season. Both members of the U-20 Canadian National Team, the duo will look to bolster a squad that struggled to find the back of the next last year. Pryce tallied six goals, two of which were game winners, in 2015, adding four in 2014. Moreira, a midfielder, scored once, adding two assists in 2015; additionally, she recorded three helpers in her freshman campaign in 2014.

Two of the team's top-three leaders in minutes played will return from the 2016 season, with Alli Higgs (1581) and Sarah Krause (1479) set to lace up with the starting squad.

FRESH FACES
The 2017 team will debut some fresh faces, led by redshirt freshman goalkeeper Katelyn McEachern, the first new keeper since the 2014 season, as 2016 alum Taylor Francis had held down the position for 50 consecutive matches. As a whole, the Panthers welcome nine new faces with freshmen Alexis Bengel, Kendall Higgs, Juelle Love, Vildan Kardesler, Jess McCoppin, Shana Hardin, Aideen O'Donoghue and Kylie Olexa; and transfer Megan Herr.

MEET YOUR CAPTAINS
A trio of Canadians will lead the way for the 2017 Pitt women's soccer season, as redshirt junior Taylor Pryce and seniors Ashley Moreira and Emma Pozzulo will captain the squad. Both Pryce and Moreira will serve as first-year captains, while Pozzulo gets her third season as a captain underway.

THE SCHEDULE
The regular season will get underway at the Petersen Sports Complex on Aug. 18 as the Panthers welcome Hofstra, before taking to the road for three-straight away battles with Duquesne (Aug. 20), Cincinnati (Aug. 24) and Xavier (Aug. 27). The Panthers will close out the month on Aug. 30, welcoming Detroit.

Illinois State visits Sept. 3, as Pitt will travel to Kent State (Sept. 7) and Nebraska (Sept. 10) before ACC play gets underway. A Sept. 15 visit to Wake Forest gets league play going, as Pitt will host Virginia Tech (Sept. 21) and travel to Duke (Sept. 24) to wrap up September action.

Three consecutive home games follow as the Panthers host perennial powerhouse Virginia (Oct. 1), followed by Syracuse (Oct. 5) and NC State (Oct. 8). A trip to Louisville (Oct. 13) will follow, with visits to Miami (Oct. 19) and Florida State (Oct. 22) wrapping up regular season road play. The 2017 regular season will come to a close on Oct. 26 when the Panthers host Boston College.

UP NEXT
Pitt wraps up its visit to the Sunshine State, visiting powerhouse Florida State Sunday. The regular season will come to an end on Oct. 26 as Pitt hosts Boston College.

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